The Reason
by 1995tofu-vampire
Summary: There's a Reason for everything, right? Who even believes in good luck and coincidence? But is there really a Reason to change yourself completely for someone you've only just met? TAGS: ExB, M for a Reason, infrequent lemons, all human, highschool
1. Chapter 1

_I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you_

_

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_**A/n: My first multiple chapter story, my second ever fan fiction story.  
Hope you like it because I'm writing it for you:)  
Jay this one's for you, baby  
**

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My old man had been screaming his fucking lungs out at me for the past half hour now. And what did I do?

Nothing.

I sat there, and took it, just like I did every time I screwed up.

I wasn't even sure what he was pissed about, I wasn't paying much attention to him. After the first 30 seconds I'd tuned out.

Last night I'd gotten myself into some serious shit.

I was down at some random's party with the guys and I drank way too much, got myself into a fight with some other wanker and bruised my jaw, possibly broken it, as well as hospitalizing that shit head- badly bruised nuts.

I'd laughed when I heard that; at least you could still have sex with a fucked jaw.

Of course I didn't remember a thing. I'd woken up around two in the morning down at the cops station with an aching jaw and the mother of all hangovers. I'd thrown up about six times this morning, and I could still hear the ringing in my ears, feel the throbbing in my head.

I'd spent hours sitting in a jail cell with nothing to do, just waiting for someone to come and rescue me.

Lucky my old man had come to spring me. Said it was an accident and that I should get my jaw treated first before they punished me. Of course they listened to him, he's the head of the whole fucking hospital; best doctor in the whole damn world some people reckon.

And yet here I sit, my jaw still not treated. I reckon the pain from my jaw is supposed to be part of the punishment.

Carlisle had the softest heart I knew for any father. Couldn't stand seeing people in pain; probably what makes him such a fine doc.

Out of all the deep shit I'd ever landed in, I'd only gotten one curfew, for 3 days.

That was the time I'd stolen Esme's car and crashed it into a primary school before making a run from the cops that were hot on my tail. Of course I was caught, you could never outrun twenty cops coming at you from all sides, but Carlisle gave me the lousiest punishment a parent could give. Most of the guys in Forks got a 3 day curfew when they didn't hand in their homework on time.

I was brought back to reality when I heard my punishment.

No way! No fucking way, he had to be kidding!

No driving _any _vehicles, no drinking _or _smoking, no surfing, no football and worst of all, home by eight thirty _every night._

_Eight fucking thirty!!!_ He was fucking kidding! And it goes on for a _month???_

This was sick; child abuse. How could he do this to me, my own _father_?

"Dad, please. Don't do this!" I begged.

But my old man just shook his blonde head of hair and sighed.

"Shit, Dad! What happened to you? You used to be so cool with all my shit!"

"You need to learn your lesson, Edward. Have you seen your mother? Every time she hears about the trouble you get yourself into, she bursts into tears! Word travels quickly in Forks, already she feels humiliated by the glares she gets as she walks down the bloody street!"

"I'm sorry, Dad. I swear it won't happen again."

"Damn straight!" he roared. Then his face softened suddenly and he smiled a little. "I'll knock off the surfing and the footy. Need to keep fit after all"

"What about the car? How else do I get to school?" I pleaded.

"Can't you catch a ride with Emmett or someone?"

_Oh yeah. Forgot about that. _"Right" I mumbled.

"I'm being pretty damn lenient on this, you know. You should be grateful."

"Oh, believe me, I am. Can't I nudge you a little on the booze and cigarettes?"

Carlisle smiled at me and placed on hand on my shoulder. "One of each a day. No more, or the curfew will be extended by a month for each extra beer"

"Thanks, Dad" I said, knowing this was the best deal he'd give out.

"No problem, son. Now go catch a wave with the guys, I gotta head back to the hospital and check your X-ray scans. You watch that jaw, right?"

"Sure. See you later" I called over my shoulder as I headed for the beach. I didn't feel like surfing but I knew Jasper or Emmett would be down there.

"Hey, man!" Emmett called as I came into his line of sight. He was sitting on a log with a half-finished twelve pack of booze sitting between him and Jasper. There were two empty cardboard boxes behind them.

Jasper waved an arm at me in greeting while he chugged down the remains of his can. He tossed it over his shoulder and bent down to pick up another.

"Jesus H. Christ, haven't you had enough already?" I asked, eyeing the growing pile of cans.

Emmett shrugged and his can quickly joined the towering pile. He bent down and picked up two cans, tossing one at me. I caught it and popped it open, taking a long swig and sighing. Thank God Carlisle had made booze an exception, I didn't think I'd last a month without it.

"What the fuck took you so long?" he asked, swallowing about half the cans

contents.

"My old man was pissed about last night" I answered.

Jasper grinned stupidly at me. "My old man doesn't even know something happened"

"Hey, man. At least Carlisle's a saint. You probably got what, a day of curfew?" Emmett said.

I made a face at that. "Nah mate, he's fucking given me a month of curfew; no cars or nothing and home by eight thirty each night"

Emmett let out a whistle. "_Eight Thirty?_" he asked in disbelief.

"Mmmhmm" I mumbled while taking another swig of beer.

"Well fuck me…" Jasper whispered.

Emmett laughed then. "If you think your old man's bad, you should check out old man Swan!"

Jasper started laughing a little drunkenly at something that I'd missed.

"Swan?" I asked. I knew every surname in Forks. Not much of an accomplishment seeing as there was only a few thousand people living here.

"Yeah, new guy. Just moved here with his daughter, Elizabeth, or Isabella…or Eliza, maybe" Jasper said. I could tell he'd had far too much to drink.

"What'd he do?" I asked curiously. I hadn't heard anything about any Swans moving into Forks.

"Well," Emmett began, sitting up straight instantly in an effort to animate the story. "Me and Jasper were just walking down to the beach, all innocent and stuff, right,"

I snorted. I doubted that two half drunken teenage boys carrying three twelve-packs of beer could ever be considered innocent.

"You wanna hear the fucking story?" he asked. His words were starting to slur, I reckoned if I didn't get the story out of him now, then he'd probably pass out later and forget everything by the time he woke up.

"I'm listening." I said.

He smiled stupidly and continued. "So anyways, all innocent an stuff, and we sees a car pull in front of that Crowley family's house. We knew that someone must have boughts the house so we goes of to check out the new peoples in town and we see this old guy get out of a car and we're likes 'hi sir, are you new here?', and we're being all polite and shit and he's gone fucking nuts!"

"What'd he say to you?" I asked.

"All this shit about how the kids these days dress up like slums off the streets with their ripped shorts and stained, oversized shirts and shit like that. And how we all need hair cuts and could do with some shampoo, and how we drink fucking alcohol all day and night… I tells you, he's a fucking wanker!"

"Waaaaannnnnnkkkkkeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" Jasper echoed, before swaying a little and falling of the log.

I tried my hardest not to laugh as I continued to ask questions. "How old's his daughter?"

"Seventeen, I think. She's real sweet, chatting to us about herself and her old school. She moved here from Arizona. She's pretty hot too"

"Is she coming down to the beach later?" I asked. I was interested in this Elizabeth. Or was it Eliza? Or even Isabella? All three were unpopular, old fashioned names, just like mine. I wondered if she really was hot, or if Emmett was too drunk at the time to remember clearly.

"Nah, I told you, her old man is fucking strict. But she's coming to school tomorrow" Emmett said.

Jasper suddenly groaned and vomited up the last six cans of beer all over the sand. Emmett watched with wide eyes as the spew overflowed Jasper's lips and dribbled down his shirt.

"Cool." Emmett stated.

I shook my head at him. "You dickhead. It is so not cool." I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I fished it out, glancing briefly at the caller ID before answering it. "What's up, Alice?"

"Good" Alice said. "You're not drunk"

"Of course not, I only just got here. You should see Jasper though. He's been spewing for the last five minutes."

"Ew! Now I don't think I want to come down there anymore!"

"Don't leave me alone with these two drunken bastards!" I complained

"Fine. I'm bringing Rose though" she said

"Thanks, Alice."

"It's fine, really" she assured me

"Hurry up, I think Emmett might start spewing soon, I need Rosalie to look after him"

"We're halfway there now, I'll see you in a few"

"Alright, bye" I said, hanging up. I turned back to see that, sure enough, Emmett was on his hands and knees beside Jasper, spewing his guts out. I made a face at the smell, wishing I'd stayed at home.

I turned around with relief when I heard the sound of tyres squealing to a stop behind me. Alice Mason and Rosalie Hale stepped out of the red BMW convertible and stepped lightly over to where I was standing. Alice skipped over and gave me a hug; she always did strange things like that, while Rosalie raised one perfectly waxed eyebrow and wrinkled her nose at the smell.

"Ew!" she complained. "Who let the dogs out?"

Alice's tiny pixie face scrunched up at the sight of her boyfriend spewing all over the ground.

"Jasper, honey. Next time, don't drink so much"

Jasper looked up at Alice while still kneeling on the ground before his stomach heaved and he chucked up more beer.

After ten minutes both Jasper and Emmett were done spewing and had rinsed out their mouths. By then it was ten past seven; I'd have to leave in an hour and twenty.

"Can you start a bonfire?" Rosalie asked me.

I turned to look at her and saw her shivering. It serves her right. Who in their right mind wears a bikini to a beach in Forks in the evening?

"Fine" I grumbled, getting up and heading into the forest to collect some firewood. By the time I got the fire going it was quarter to eight; only forty five minutes left.

As I watched the blue-green flames of the bonfire lick the logs of driftwood I'd managed to find, the others started to settle down for the night. It turns out that Alice and Rose had packed a tent and sleeping bags so we could all spend the night together on the beach. They were both disappointed about my bad news, and promised me they'd make up for it somehow, take me out somewhere tomorrow or something. As much as I would have like to spend the night with my friends on the beach, I was secretly relieved I didn't have to put up with their couple stuff. As I sat here now, Emmett, still drunk, was kissing Rosalie's neck in a way that was far too private for public display and Alice was sitting cross-legged on the sand with Jasper's head resting on her lap. I watched jealously as she ran her tiny fingers through his hair and carefully stroked his pale cheek. He sighed and closed his eyes while her fingertips traced along the back of his eyelids and his lips. I groaned quietly and looked away. No, I wasn't jealous of Jasper for having Alice, I was jealous of both of them for having each other. I felt exactly the same about Emmett and Rosalie. It wasn't like I couldn't get a girl. God no, nearly every single girl at Forks High was heaps desperate for me, and I knew it too. I'd slept with nearly all of them, all of them coming back for seconds and thirds. It was far too easy for me to get a girl. No, the problem was that I'd never found anyone I really liked.

There's a great variety of girls at Forks High- you have your Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley type; the wannabe sluts who cake on their make-up every morning and chew gum in class, giggling every ten seconds at some gossip they'd heard.

Then there's the Samantha Conner type; pretty but a complete faker when it comes to sex. And really stupid, it's unbelievable that kind of girls actually make it to high school.

There's also the Angela Weber type; quiet, shy, never really talks. But those kinds of girls are nice, sweet in a way.

And of course, the lucky bitches like the Alice Mason and Rosalie Hale type, who have everything good; good looks, rocking bods, money, boys drooling after them, popularity, fashion sense, perfect features and just the right amount of make up to look hot, but not slutty.

Unfortunately, all those girls are taken.

I groaned again, and this time Emmett heard me.

"Hey, man. It's eight-fifteen. Maybe you should head home"

"Yeah, or my old man'll crack the shits again" I agreed, getting up and walking over towards him.

"See ya, man" he said, lightly punching my leg.

"See you tomorrow" Rosalie said, standing up to hug me.

"Bye guys" I mumbled, heading over to Jasper and Alice.

"You coming tomorrow?" Jasper asked while clapping me on the back.

"Yeah, I wanna check out this new chick. Never heard of her before"

Alice giggled. "Oooooh! I can set you up with her. Apparently she's hot!"

I grimaced and Jasper smirked at me.

"Oh come on, every guy that's seen her reckons she's hot as!" Alice said.

"Only Emmett said she was hot, and he was half drunk." I said.

"I didn't know Emmett said that. I was talking about on my way here, when I was chatting to Mike and Eric, and before that I saw the Quileutes and I was chatting to them."

I made a face when she said Quileutes. I hated them, bunch of no good wankers, always picking fights.

"You better hurry, mate. Looks like all the guys are after her already" Jasper teased.

"Sure, sure. Hey, can I have a lift to school? Carlisle took away my vehicle privileges" I said with a grimace.

"Sure man. I'm picking up Alice too. You can sit in the back with Rose" Jasper said, smiling drunkenly.

_Fuck. 15 minutes in the car with the beauty queen. _"Uh, actually, I think I'll take a lift with Emmett, if you don't mind" I said, internally cursing Carlisle.

"He's coming late. He has to see your old man about his leg, I think he pulled something playing footy or something" Jasper said, his smile stretching into a full blown grin.

_Shit, shit, shit. _"You know what? I think I'll walk" I said.

Alice giggled, her can of beer sloshing over the rim so that a bit dribbled down the sides of the can.

"What?" I asked.

"It's raining tomorrow!!!!" They both chorused, laughing like idiots.

_You have to be fucking kidding me. _"When is it _not_ raining in Forks?" I asked.

"Now!" Emmett yelled, intruding into the conversation. We all tuned to see him leap up, dragging Rosalie with him, and saw that he was no longer wearing pants, but just a pair of white boxers with red hearts on them.

He put his arm over Rosalie's shoulders and started to fling his legs up in the air, one at a time.

"Come on, Rose. Do the Can-Can!" he roared, taking another swig of his beer. Jasper jumped up and joined them, laughing stupidly, while Alice stayed on the ground, clapping her hands excitedly.

"EDWARD!" Rosalie screeched, her normally pissed off expression lit up with happiness. "Come and Can-Can with us!"

"No, thanks. I should get going" _Did we always act like this? Now I could see what old man Swan was going on about…_

"Oh come-_on_!" Emmett drawled, flinging his empty can at me. I ducked out of the way and picked up a full one, piffing it as hard as I could at his face. But even drunkenly handicapped, Emmett's hand-eye coordination was like second nature to him. He caught it and popped it open, taking a huge swig before tipping the rest of it over Jasper's head. Jasper laughed as the cold liquid trickled down his face. He looked over at Alice and smiled.

"You wanna taste?" he asked, pausing in his leg-kicking to call Alice over. She jumped up excitedly and skipped over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and licking his face from chin to hair line.

_Ew._ I'd had enough. I bent down to pick up a can before waving goodbye and heading off home. I'd probably come back to check if they were alright in the morning. Emmett and Jasper were known to be mean drunks. I wondered if any of them would get hurt. I hoped they all managed to get their tents unzipped, and I wondered If any of them were drunk enough to attempt swimming and then drown, or go out to far and get swept away in a current, which would result in drowning anyway. Or what if they get mauled by a shark? I hope they all had the sense not to…Jesus Christ, why was I acting so paternal?

I reached my house and opened the door… or tried to at least. It was locked.

I knocked, but no one answered, and that's when I realized Esme's car wasn't in the driveway. She must have gone out again.

"FUCK!!!" I roared, punching the door angrily. I heard a muted crunching sound and I fell to the ground in pain. I looked up at the door, wincing, and saw the splintered wood, dented into the shape of a fist. I looked down at my hand and nearly swore again. It was obviously broken, one of the knuckles was knocked into the wrong place and it was hurting like crazy. I got up of the ground and sat on the front step, completely pissed off.

"Are you alright?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin; I'd thought I was alone. I looked up into a pair of concerned chocolate brown eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just great" I mumbled. Who was this chick? I'd never seen her around.

"Did you need some help? You look like you hurt your hand…" she drifted off towards the end of the sentence and her eyes moved swiftly to the dented door, to my hand and back to my face.

"I'm fine. I think I broke it, that's all" I assured her, but the concern was still plain on her face.

"Maybe you should get someone to have a look at it," she suggested, kneeling down so she was eye level with me. She reached out without hesitation and carefully picked up my hand. The second her hand touched mine, the pain disappeared, as if her skin contained some kind of instant anesthetic. I sighed with relief and she looked up at me curiously.

"What?" she asked.

I shrugged and she turned back to my hand. I watched the way a little crease had formed between her eyebrows, like she was concentrating really hard on something. God, she was hot. She lifted her head up to look at my face and her dark brown hair fell back behind her shoulders, exposing her cleavage.

"So, you do live here, right? You weren't trying to break in or something, were you?" She was joking, of course, but I could hear a hint of worry in her perfect voice.

I tore my eyes away from her cleavage before she noticed and tried my best to answer without sound like a total dick. "Yeah, this is my place. I think my old man's out, so is my old lady."

She laughed at that. "When are they getting back?"

I shrugged. "Carlisle's a doctor, and I think he's working night shifts, so he won't be back for hours. And Esme hates being alone in the house. She probably thinks I won't come home tonight, maybe she's at the hospital with my old man." I noticed she was still holding my hand, even though she'd already finished examining it.

"Why don't you go back down to the beach with your friends?" she suggested.

_How did she know where my friends were?_ I stared at her deep chocolate brown eyes like a total dick. I couldn't help it; I was struck by her beauty.

She laughed at me, probably thinking I was a loser. "You don't have to; you can just sit here and wait. Or if you don't think I'm really annoying, you can stay at my place until they get back."

I frowned at that, confused. _Why would I think she was annoying?_

"You're not annoying" I blurted out stupidly.

She laughed again and smiled. "Thank you, I'll take that as a _yes_ to coming over to my place."

She stood up and turned around walking away from me. I started after her, completely dumbfounded. I watched, mesmerized, as her ass swung from side to side in the sexiest way I'd ever seen. Fuck, she was so hot. Her tiny little shorts barely covered up her ass, and her beautiful tanned legs seemed to go on forever. How come I'd never noticed her before?

"You coming?" she asked, half turning to look at me.

_Right. I was going to her place._ "Coming" I said, jumping to my feet and following after her.

"My Dad'll be pleased" she noted, as we started walking to her place.

"About what?" I asked

"You" she said simply.

_Me? What the hell would her dad be pleased about me for?_ "I'm not following" I said

She laughed that musical laugh again. "I only just got here, and he's been bugging me about making friends. When I bring you home, then maybe he won't think I'm a friendless loser"

_Only just got here._ Well that would explain why I'd never seen her around. Weird. Two new kids coming to Forks on the same day.

"Where'd you move here from?" I asked casually.

"Arizona" she answered. "The weather's so much colder here"

_Arizona? This was getting a little to coincidental..._

"Are you Elizabeth?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Bella" she corrected.

_Bella? Whoa, Jasper had been way off. _"Is that short for something?"

"Isabella, but its way too old fashioned. That was my great grandma's name"

_Well, Jasper had got it right, sort of. _"Isabella's a nice name" I argued.

She made a face. "If you had an old fashioned name, you'd want to change it too"

_Really? Well as a matter of fact, I did have an old fashioned name. _"You don't even know my name" I said.

"I bet I could guess it!" she challenged.

"Go on then" I said smugly. If she thought _Edward_ was an old fashioned name, she'd never get it right.

"Hmmm…" she said, looking at my face as if my name was written on it somewhere and she was searching for it. "Josh?"

"Nope"

"Adam?"

"Nope"

"Michael?"

"No"

"James?"

"I hate that name"

"Is James your name?"

"No, I just said I hate it"

"Loads of people hate their name. Me, for example"

"You're stalling"

"Am not! Matthew?"

"Nope"

"Kyle?"

"You're way off"

"Tell me what it starts with" she begged.

"'E'" I said.

"'E?'" she asked in disbelief.

'_E' is a perfectly common letter, thank you very much!_ "What's wrong with 'E'?"

"The only 'E' names I can think of are girl names" she said

_Girl names!!! There were heaps of guys around here that start with 'E'; Emmett, Eric, Embry and of course Edward. _

"You do have a guy name, right?" she asked, the corners of her lips twitching.

"Yes, I have a guy name!" I bristled.

"All right then…Earl?"

I laughed. "No"

"Eddie?"

_Close. _"Nope"

"Eric?'

"Nuh-uh"

"Fine then. I don't know, just tell me" she said

"Edward" I said.

"_Edward?_" she asked, disbelieving.

"Edward" I confirmed.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds. We just kept walking along the road. For the first time I noticed she was barefoot. Then she burst out laughing. She stumbled over her own feet and had to grab my arm to avoid hitting the ground. She hung of me like a child would hang of his mother's arm, and she shook with laughter. I frowned. Edward wasn't such a bad name. James was a lot worse.

"What?" I snapped at her. She didn't react angrily to my rude tone like a normal girl. Instead, she looked up at me with tears of laughter in her brown eyes and smiled.

"That's worse than Isabella, but I like it."

"You like it?" I asked incredulously.

"Mmmhmm. It suits you. Edward. Edward…?"

"Cullen. And you're Bella Swan?"

"Yes. It seems I'm a topic of discussion in this town"

"You know, I was like the only person who didn't know you were coming here"

"Not the only one. I met a couple of nice guys a few hours ago. I think they're friends of yours"

"That would be Jasper and Emmett, right?" I asked.

"That's them. By the looks of it, they were badly drunk, with another 30 can of beer. You let your friends drink that much?"

I shrugged. "I'm not their parents"

"We're here" she announced, turning up the driveway of Tyler Crowley's old house. She pulled out a key from under the eave and unlocked the front door before walking in and leaving me hypnotized once again by the swaying movement of her hips.

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**A/n: What do you think? Should I keep it up?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: The sky's not falling it's just angels committing suicide... I love you Melissa:)****

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"Now make sure you talk to all the kids, okay? I want you to make some good friends" Charlie said, for the hundredth time.

He could not be serious. I'm seventeen years old; I don't need anyone reminding me to make friends.

"Listen to me, Isabella!" he demanded when I didn't answer him.

I turned my head slowly, away from the car window to look at him, putting on the most pissed of expression I could manage.

"Bella" I corrected out of habit.

"You're Isabella to me, missy!" he said.

"What do you want, Charlie?" I asked.

"That's _Dad_ to you, Isabella!"

"And it's _Bella_ to you!" I shouted. I wished I could just stay with mum. Stupid Phil had to go ruin everything. At least when Mum was in the house, I could live a decent life.

"That's it; get out of the car!" he roared.

"Gladly!" I yelled back. He didn't slow the car so I prepared to jump, but the door wouldn't open.

"Unlock the door" I demanded stiffly.

"You think I'm gonna let my only daughter jump out of my car?" he asked softly. What happened to his pissed off mood before? I didn't want to feel all lovey dovey, give him a big hug and forget all about it. I wanted to fight!

"I'd rather jump out of a moving car than spend another minute stuck in here with you!" I screamed, tugging uselessly on the door handle. I expected Charlie to scream back, but he didn't. He didn't say anything. I turned around, surprised to see him staring straight ahead at the road.

And it went on like that for the next hour; Charlie staring out the windscreen with me staring out the side window, neither of us talking.

When we pulled into the driveway of a small, two storey house, Charlie unlocked the doors and headed for the boot to grab our suitcases full of clothes. I got out of the car, planning on heading for the beach which I could smell from here, but the sound of a male voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Hi Sir!" the voice called loudly.

I heard my father grunt in acknowledgement.

"Geeze, what crawled up his arse?" I heard another voice whisper in what I assumed was supposed to subtle but was actually quite loud.

"Shushhhh!" the other one hissed back. "He can hear you!"

They both fell into fits of giggles, almost sounding like a group of teenage girls. I turned around and walked to the boot of the car, smiling at the two teenage boys. They were obviously drunk; the muscular one of the two was even swaying a little on the spot. And they were carrying _three _twelve-packs of beer, one pack already open. When the muscled one saw me, his face lit up and his eyes slid from my face to my chest.

"She's hot!" he hissed to his friend.

Charlie bristled when he heard that. "Will you two bastards get the _hell _of my property?" he roared.

They both stared at him in shock for a few seconds before the less brawny blonde nudged his friend. "I think he heard you. Maybe you should let _me_ handle this."

"You're drunk! As if he'd listen to _you_!" the big one hissed.

"You're drunk too, you idiot!"

"Oh, right. But I've only had three cans."

"I've only had one!" the blonde hissed back.

"Are you new here?" the brawny one asked me, turning away from his friend.

"I said, get of my property, before I call the cops! And if I must inform you; I AM A COP!" Charlie exploded.

"Dad! Let me handle it!" I said, shocked at his rudeness.

"No, Isabella, I got this" he said, turning back to the boys. "Who do you think you are? Teenagers these days, I tell you! Walking the streets like a pack of slums wearing no shoes, clothes are all stretched with food stains all over them and holes ripped into them! Hair all messy like you just woke up and walked out of the house without even brushing your teeth. And drinking alcohol! Thirty six cans of beer; if you don't die of the amount of beer you're drinking, then you'll bloody die on the road! Get the hell of my property and stay the hell away!"

He turned away from them, stalking into the house, leaving the car boot up with all our stuff in it. He probably expected me to follow him, with one suitcase in each hand.

The hell I'd do that.

I shut the boot and turned towards the boys who were still standing there. I didn't think either of them understood a word Charlie had said.

"I'm sorry about my Dad. He's just being…my dad" I said lamely. I didn't want to insult him, in case he was still listening through an open window or something.

"Are you new here?" the brawny one repeated, as if my father hadn't just bagged the hell out of the two of them, and I'd simply asked him to repeat himself.

I laughed, and the two of them seemed to thaw out. The blonde one smiled at me encouragingly.

"Yes" I said. "I just moved here from Arizona"

"I heard it's really hot there" the big one stated.

"It is, it's so cold here" I said

"This is probably the hottest it'll ever get in Forks" the blonde said.

"It must rain a lot here" I said, eyeing the puddles of water on the road.

"It does" the brawny one said. He then held out his hand towards me. "I'm Emmett McCarty"

I reached out and shook his hand.

"Bella Swan" I introduced myself. The blonde stepped forward and shook my hand as well.

"Jasper Hale," he said.

"It's nice to meet you both" I said. I wondered why we were all acting so formal.

"Isn't your name _Isa_bella?" Jasper asked.

I grimaced. "I prefer Bella."

"Okay. Are you coming to school tomorrow?" he asked, taking a sip of beer.

"Forks High?" I checked.

"Mmmhmm" he mumbled while taking another swig.

"Yes. Do you both go there?"

"Yep. Hey, why don't you hang out with us at school?" Emmett asked.

"Cool, thanks" I said. At least Charlie couldn't badger me about the friendship thing anymore.

"I have a girlfriend, Alice, I reckon you two'll be good friends" Jasper said, smiling happily at me.

"Okay, that's cool. Do you hang out with any other kids, or is it just you two and Alice?" I asked.

"Well my sister hangs out with us. She's Emmett's girlfriend. And another guy hangs with us too, but he doesn't have a girlfriend" Jasper said.

"I know!" Emmett exclaimed loudly. "_You_ can be his girlfriend!"

"Yeah!" Jasper agreed. "Then we can have two people per tent when we go camping"

"You guys go camping together?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from me getting a boyfriend. I think I could do that myself.

"Oh yeah, all the time!" Emmett said.

"I think we might be camping on the beach tonight" Jasper told me.

"Don't you need tents?" I asked.

"We'll call Alice, she has everything at her place."

"Oh, okay"

"So, you wanna come down to the beach with us?" Emmett invited.

Crap! If their other friend comes along, I'll probably have to sleep in the same tent as him! Yeesh! I'd rather not! I don't even know that guy, I barely know Emmett and Jasper!

"Not tonight" I said. "I have to unpack, and I don't think my dad would like it much."

"Will you come another time?" Jasper asked

"Okay" I said. I probably wouldn't. I'd have to get to know this _Alice_, and the other girl and boy.

"Well, see ya tomorrow!" Emmett said, waving a large hand at me.

"Bye!" I called as they both turned and headed towards the beach.

_So much for my escape to the beach,_ I thought bitterly. Well, I wasn't going to hang out with Charlie for the rest of the evening. I followed the road the boys had walked down, until I saw the beach stretched out in front of me. I could see two people sitting on a bleached white drift wood log. I assumed it was Emmett and Jasper, but they were too far away for me to be certain.

I ducked into the forest and walked along the edge until I was fifty meters away from the boys, and sat down on a damper, darker log than the white driftwood log they sat on.

I sat there for hours, listening to them ramble on about nonsense. I eventually fell asleep, and when I woke up, two of the three cardboard boxes full of beer were finished. I could hear loud voices talking but I couldn't focus on what they were saying until I heard my name.

"-check out old man Swan!" I heard Emmett yell. _Old man Swan?_ _My dad?_

Jasper started to laugh then. He sounded far more drunk than I remembered.

"Swan?" a new voice asked. Could this be the other boy they were talking about earlier? I craned my neck to get a glimpse of him but the trees were thick to see anything besides their feet and the growing pile of cans.

"Yeah," Jasper said. "New guy, just moved here with his daughter, Elizabeth, or Isabella…or Eliza, maybe"

I laughed quietly at the sound of Jasper's voice. he sounded a little confused. How much had he had to drink?

"What'd he do?" the new voice asked. I could hear the burning curiosity in his question. I tried to picture a face that went with that voice, but I couldn't. It was the most beautiful voice I'd heard; deep, but nowhere near as deep as Emmett's. I should have agreed to camping on the beach with them; maybe their friend wasn't that bad. I wondered why someone with such a voice would have trouble finding a girlfriend. Maybe he was ugly.

I listened intently as Emmett explained the encounter with my father. I was surprised; he didn't exaggerate in the slightest, although, if that conversation was exaggerated, it probably wouldn't have sounded very real.

"How old's his daughter?" the new boy asked. _He wanted to know about _ME_?_

"Seventeen, I think" Emmett replied. "She's real sweet, chatting to us about herself and her old school. She moved here from Arizona. She's pretty hot too."

"Is she coming down to the beach later?" the new voice asked. He sounded hopeful.

"Nah, I told you, her old man is fucking strict. But she's coming to school tomorrow."

I heard someone groan, and for half a second I actually thought it was the new boy, I thought he was disappointed he couldn't see me earlier. But then I heard the sound of someone chucking up and I realized it was either Emmett or Jasper, probably chucking up the last twelve beers they'd had.

I guessed it was Jasper because a few seconds later I heard Emmett talk again.

"Cool" he stated.

"You dickhead. It is so not cool" the new boy said. I shook with silent laughter at that. These guys sounded great; I'd have to find them at lunch tomorrow. Above the sound of spew hitting the ground, I heard the soft buzz of a phone vibrating.

"What's up, Alice?" The new boy asked. "Of course not!" he said, obviously answering some question I hadn't heard. "I only just got here. You should see Jasper, though. He's been spewing for the last five minutes" He was exaggerating a little bit. It hadn't even been two minutes yet.

"Don't leave me alone with these two drunken bastards!" he complained, and I erupted in silent giggles at the tone of his voice. I heard something heavy fall to the floor and the sound of someone else chucking up. It looked like Emmett had reached his limit too.

"Thanks, Alice…Hurry up. I think Emmett might start spewing soon and I need Rosalie to look after him. Alright, bye." He hung up and made a loud gagging sound when he saw Emmett crouched on the ground next to Jasper. He obviously hadn't heard Emmett throwing up while he was talking to Alice.

I could see the pools of vomit on the sand and I looked away, feeling sick. At least the smell couldn't reach me through the thick trees and the smell of damp earth. I assumed Rosalie was Emmett's girlfriend. Didn't Jasper say she was his sister?

A few minutes later, the purr of a car engine interrupted the frequent spewing sound, and I heard the boy sigh with relief. I saw a tiny pair of feet skip quickly towards Edward and then step sideways a little, facing the two boys on the ground. Another larger pair of feet appeared next to the small ones and they tapped on the sandy ground impatiently. I nearly gasped when I heard the voice that went with that pair of feet. It was far to perfect, the feminine version of the unknown boy's voice.

"Ew. Who let the dogs out?" she complained. I wondered if it was Rosalie or Alice.

"Jasper, honey," A childish voice called. "Next time, don't drink so much." This voice obviously belonged to Alice; I couldn't see brothers and sisters calling each other 'honey'.

I saw Jasper gaze up at Alice for a second before spewing up another three cans worth of beer at her feet.

I watched the vomit continue to pour out of Jasper and Emmett's mouths until, finally, they ran dry. They both stood up and headed for the car to rinse out their mouths with some water.

I sat there for hours, watching the five friends sit around a bonfire which the new boy had created, chatting and drinking as they pleased. It didn't seem to concern Emmett or Jasper that they'd already chucked up for fifteen minutes after drinking so much beer, they just kept on drinking. As the sun started to lower in the sky, the five teenagers started to set up their camp. The girls had brought tents and sleeping bags, just like Jasper had said earlier on out the front of my house. Everyone there was pretty much drunk except the boy whose name I didn't know. As far as I knew, he'd only had a few cans. He set up two of the tents far enough from the water so the tide wouldn't reach them and unrolled all the sleeping bags for them. _That's very grown up of him,_ I thought. _I wonder where he's sleeping…_

As the hours passed, they all started to settle down for the night. Their loud raucous laughter had died down to a quiet chuckle every now and then and their beer supply seemed to be running low, despite the fact Alice and Rosalie had packed another four six-packs of beer for them. Emmett was sitting on the ground with Rosalie on his lap, kissing her neck passionately. She giggled and he laughed along with her, still pashing her neck. I saw Alice sitting cross-legged on the ground with Jasper's head resting on her lap. She was stroking his face repetitively with her little hands. I smiled as I watch the two couples, it was very sweet. I heard the new boy groan quietly, and I realized that even though he had the same picture in front of his eyes, he wasn't seeing the same thing. Instead of feeling happy for the two couples expressing their love for one another, I imagined her felt jealous.

I think Emmett heard the unknown boy's sigh because he looked up and smiled sadly. Rosalie whispered something into Emmett's ear and they moved a little ways from each other so they were sitting next to each other, rather than on top of each other.

"Hey, man. It's eight-fifteen. Maybe you should head home"

_Head home? Wasn't he camping out here with them, then? And eight-fifteen? What was he, nine years old?_

"Yeah, or my old man'll crack the shits again" he agreed.

"See ya, man" Emmett said.

"See you tomorrow" Rosalie said.

"Bye, guys" he muttered. I watched his feet as the slowly headed over to where Alice was seated.

"You coming tomorrow?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, I wanna check out this new chick, never heard of her before." he said. I blushed red when he said that. Maybe it wouldn't be very hard to find them tomorrow.

"Oooooooh!" Alice chorused. "I can set you up with her. Apparently she's hot!" If I'd gone red before, I don't know what I was now. _Hot?_ Back at my school in Phoenix, no one had ever asked me out on a date, let alone referred to me as _hot_, yet I've been in Forks for less than a day and nearly every kid I've met so far has expressed that I was good looking in some way, even the girls and the kids with boyfriends and girlfriends.

"Oh, come-on! Every guy that's seen her reckons she's hot!" What the _hell_ was she talking about? The only guys I'd actually seen where Emmett and Jasper, and they were both drunk when they'd said I was hot. The new boy voiced my thoughts aloud but Alice interrupted. "I didn't know Emmett said that. I was talking about on my way here, when I was talking to Mike and Eric, And before that I saw the Quileutes and I was chatting to them." _Mike and Eric? I never saw any Mikes or Erics! And what the hell is a Quileute? Is it some kind of Forks gang?_

"You better hurry mate, looks like all the guys are after her." Jasper teased.

"Sure, sure." The Unknown boy agreed absentmindedly. "Hey, can I have a lift to school? Carlisle took away my driving privileges." _Oh. That's why he has to be home soon. Curfew._

"Sure, man," Jasper agreed, a smile in his voice. "I'm picking up Alice, you can sit in the back with Rose."

"Uh, actually, I think I'll take a lift with Emmett, if you don't mind." He said, changing his mind.

"He's coming late. He has to see your old man about his leg, I think he pulled something playing footy or something." Jasper said, the smile now more obvious in his voice. The boy whose name I _still_ didn't know was quiet for a few seconds while he thought this over.

"You know what? I think I'll walk." He said. I heard a girly giggle and the sound of beer slopping around in a can.

"What?" he asked.

"It's raining tomorrow!" Alice and Jasper chorused at the same time.

"When is it _not _raining in Forks?" he asked.

"Now!" Emmett answered. Uh-oh. He was drunk again. I saw Emmett's huge bare feet appear behind where Alice was seated and Rosalie's smaller, smoother feet stumbled after. It appeared that Emmett was no longer wearing his baggy board shorts. I wondered If he was even wearing underwear. He started to kick his legs up in a poor impression of the Can-Can.

"Come-on, Rose. Do the Can-Can!" he yelled. Rosalie's perfect legs started to kick, completely out of time with Emmett's legs. Jasper's legs appeared next to Emmett's and he joined in, all three of them kicking at different times. Alice stayed seated on the floor, clapping her hands happily in a beat that matched none of the flailing legs kicking in the air. They were all laughing; a little drunkenly, a little stupidly, but laughing like friends should be. I hoped that the next time these guys had a camping trip I could participate instead of watching from the sidelines. This was far cooler than anything I'd ever done in Phoenix. I heard Rosalie screech something that was too loud and high-pitched for me to understand, but it was followed quickly by "Come and Can-Can with us!"

"No thanks" I heard the new boy mumble. "I should get going."

"Oh come-_on_!" Emmett complained. An empty beer can hit the sand with a muted thud and rolled toward me a little. I saw the new boy's hand bend down to pick up an unopened can of beer, and I heard the whistling noise it made as he threw it, no doubt at Emmett. But instead of the hollow clunk I expected to hear, I heard the sound of the can being popped open. _Good reflexes,_ I thought.

I saw something wet trickle down Jasper's body and he and Emmett laughed stupidly. It took me a minute to realize it was beer. Jasper's legs stopped kicking at the air and he turned to face Alice.

"You wanna taste?" he asked her. She jumped up and ran to his side where she wrapped her arms around him tightly. I couldn't see what she did to him, but I was sort-of glad. I saw Edward bend down to pick up another beer can and wave goodbye before turning around and heading home. I looked at the time; it was eight-thirty. Charlie was probably wondering where I was. I ran along the forest line until I reached the road and I quietly headed back home. After I passed the first bend in the road, I could see another figure walking ahead of me. It was the guy who'd been down at the beach before. He was heading the same way as me, so I followed him. It wasn't until I saw him turn up the driveway of a house did I realize I'd missed my turn off; I was too intent on the mysterious boy. I watched him turn the door handle, but the door didn't open. He knocked on the door but no one answered. I watched him standing there, visibly fuming for five seconds before looked up at the sky and screamed.

"FUCK!" he roared, bringing back his right fist and punching the wooden door. From where I was standing, I heard the crunch, although that could've been the door. I watched in horror as he fell to the ground, his can of beer rolling of the porch steps. He looked up at the door and saw the splintered marks before looking down at his surely broken hand. I saw him curse again, quieter this time, before standing up and sitting on the porch step. He gazed at his hand with a frown on his face, not looking up as I walked over to him.

"Are you alright?" I asked. I tried my hardest not to laugh as he jumped at the sound of my voice. He looked up at me and I saw his face for the first time; it was so perfect, it matched his voice exactly.

"Yeah, I'm just great." He mumbled sarcastically.

"Did you need some help? You look like you hurt your hand…"

"I'm fine. I think I broke it, that's all." He said. I noticed he had the most unusual green eyes. I liked them.

"Maybe you should get someone to have a look at it," I suggested, kneeling down in front of him to get a closer look at those green eyes. They were real, definitely not contacts. I looked down at his hand and reached out for it, picking it up carefully so I didn't hurt him. As soon as my hand touched him, he sighed and a smile spread across his face.

"What?" I asked, a little confused. He shrugged at me so I continued to examine his hand. It was definitely broken in more than one place; one of the knuckles looked like it had moved out of place and there were purple bruises already appearing on his skin. I wondered why he punched the door in the first place. Maybe this wasn't his house, and he was trying to break in. Unlikely, but I had to check.

"So, you do live here, right? You weren't trying to break in or something, were you? I asked, feeling like a complete idiot. I looked up in time to see his green eyes shift from my cleavage to my face quickly. I hadn't noticed my shirt was that low, and I straightened up a little in effort to cover up as much as I could.

"Yeah, this is my place. I think my old man's out, so is my old lady." He answered, his green eyes flickering briefly to my cleavage and back to my face. I wondered if he realized he was doing that.

"When are they getting back?" I asked, sitting up a little straighter. I remembered I was still holding his hand, and I wondered if it was rude to pull away now.

"Carlisle's a doctor, and I think he's working night shifts so he won't be back for hours. And Esme hates being alone in the house. She probably thinks I won't come home tonight, maybe she's at the hospital with my old man."

"Why don't you go back to the beach with your friends?" I asked. I realized too late that he didn't know I was sitting amongst the trees watching him and his friends. I saw the confusion flicker across his face and I quickly tried to distract him.

I laughed nervously. "You don't have too; you can just sit here and wait. Or if you don't think I'm really annoying you can stay at my place until they get back."

He frowned at that and I suddenly wished I hadn't asked. He obviously didn't want to come.

"You're not annoying." He said, looking confused.

I laughed in relief. "Thank you. I'll take that as a _yes_ for coming over to my place." I stood up and walked down his driveway. I thought he was following but when I turned around, he was still sitting on the porch steps, his unusual green eyes glued to my bum. I tried my hardest to ignore that as I spoke again. "You coming?"

"Coming!" He answered, hopping off the porch and following me down the driveway.

I wondered what Charlie would think when he saw what I'd brought home. I suppose he couldn't complain; he told me to make new friends,

"My dad'll be pleased." I noted out loud.

"About what?" he asked, sounding confused.

"You."

He was silent for a few second, trying to make sense of what I'd said.

"I'm not following." He finally said.

I laughed again. "I only just got here and he's been bugging me about making friends. When I bring you home, then maybe he won't think I'm a friendless loser."

He was quiet again. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"Where'd you move here from?" he asked.

"Arizona."

He went silent. _What the hell?_

"Are you Elizabeth?" he asked me.

I tried hard not to smile as I answered him. "Bella."

"Is that short for something?"

"Isabella, but its way too old fashion. It's my great grandmother's name."

"Isabella's a nice name." he argued.

"If you had an old fashioned name, you'd want to change it too."

He was quiet for a few seconds, thinking something over.

"You don't even know my name." he finally accused.

It had to be something common, it wouldn't be hard to guess. "I bet I could guess it!"

"Go on then." He said, looking a little smug. Maybe he had one of those made-up names or something. Well I'd go for the easy names first.

"Hmmm…Josh?" I guessed.

"Nope" he said, popping the 'p'.

"Adam?"

"Nope"

"Michael?"

"No"

"James?"

"I hate that name"

"Is James your name?"

"No, I just said I hate it"

"Loads of people hate their name. Me, for example"

"You're stalling" he accused.

"Am not! Matthew?"

"Nope"

"Kyle?"

"You're way off"

"Tell me what it starts with" I begged.

"'E'" he said.

"'E?"" I asked. I didn't know any boys names that started with 'E'.

"What's wrong with 'E'?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.

"The only 'E' names I can think of are girl names." I admitted. "You do have a guy name, right?" I asked, fighting a smile. Maybe his name was _Ella_…

He frowned at me. "Yes, I have a guy name!"

"All right then..." I couldn't think, my mind was blank. "Earl?"

He laughed. "No."

"Eddie?"

"I saw something flicker in his eyes but before I could see what it was, it disappeared. "Nope."

"Eric?"

"Nuh-uh."

_I give up._ "Fine, then. I don't know, just tell me."

He sucked in a deep breath before answering. "Edward."

_What? _"_Edward?_" I asked.

"Edward." He confirmed.

I didn't say anything. Edward…_wow. _That was the oldest name in the book! I burst out laughing. I know it was rude, but I couldn't help it. I tripped over my feet and grabbed his arm for support while shaking with laughter.

"What?" he snapped, and I realized I'd hurt his feelings.

I looked up at him and smiled gently. "That's worse than Isabella, but I like it." I said, telling one hundred percent the truth.

I watched as his face lit up with joy. "You like it?"

"Mmmhmm" I mumbled. "It suits you. _Edward_. Edward…?" I realized I didn't know his last name.

"Cullen." He said quickly. "And you're Bella Swan?"

"Yes. It seems I'm a topic of discussion here."

"You know, I was like the only person who didn't know you were coming here." He said.

"Not the only one. I met a couple of nice guys a few hours ago. I think they were friends of yours." I said.

"That would be Jasper and Emmett, right?" he asked.

"That's them. By the looks of it, they were badly drunk, with like, another 30 cans of beer. You let your friends drink that much? I accused.

He shrugged. "I'm not their parents."

"We're here." I announced, turning up the driveway. I heard Edward's soft feet padding along behind me. I took out the key from under the eave and unlocked the front door, walking inside my new home. I didn't turn around to see if Edward was following; I could practically feel his eyes on my bum.

* * *

**A/n: ****Do you hate your name?**

xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n:  
****I'm growing up too fast, and I don't know if I  
Should be happy that the adult world is accepting me before the due date  
Or if I should be scared,  
Because I should still be at home  
"Playing with Barbie dolls."  
- my sexy Kirsty Brown, poet of the year I reckon:)****  
**

* * *

"So, this is my place," Bella said, her back still facing me. "You probably know it better than me, so maybe you should give me a tour!"

I blinked stupidly, snapping out of it and walked into Tyler's old house, shutting the door behind me. When she heard the sound of my feet on the tiling she turned and smiled.

"I was kidding." She said.

"But I _do_ know this place better than you. I'll give you a tour." I said, laughing. She laughed too, and I listened in awe at he sound of us laughing together. I could get used to that.

"Well, this is the, uh, the…" I didn't know what to call it. It's where me and Emmett would hold our poker sessions whenever Tyler had a house party.

"Living room?" Bella suggested.

"Well, the only time I ever came to Tyler's place is when he had a house party. Me, Emmett and Jasper always crash people's parties. Even when we're invited we'd come running in late with a car full of booze."

"So the booze room, then?" she joked.

"More like the poker room."

"Okay. Poker room." She said, laughing again.

We walked to the left side of the downstairs section and entered the kitchen.

"_This_ was the booze room." I said.

"Nice." She commented. "So there are only two rooms downstairs?"

"Yep"

"Nice." She said again.

I lead her upstairs to the larger of the two bedrooms.

"This was the fucking room." I said, trying to keep a straight face as I saw her disgusted expression.

"Ew! Charlie can have this room!"

"Okay. You're room was just the nothing room 'cause Tyler never let anyone go in there."

"That's good." She said.

No need to tell her that no one listened to Tyler anyway, it was basically the spare fucking room, incase the first one was already occupied.

"So, this is the passing out room." I said, opening up the bathroom door.

Bella giggled. "I can just picture kids passed out in here, with their heads in the toilet and vomit on their lips."

I laughed too. That was a pretty accurate description of what actually happened in here.

"Drug room. You know; crack and weed and stuff" I said, pointing to the laundry. She nodded her head at me and we kept walking until we reached the last room.

"And the nothing room. Tour's over; $20 please." I joked, holding out my hand.

She laughed and shoved my shoulder. I nearly fell over; she was pretty strong.

"I wanna check out my room" she said, opening the door and walking in. I kept my eyes well away from her ass as I walked in. I didn't want to seem like some kind of pervert.

"Like it?" I asked.

"Too small. But it's nice, homey-ish."

"Yeah, most of the houses in Forks are like that."

"Is your house like that?" she asked.

"No, my house is huge."

"Why is your house huge, and everyone else gets small houses?" she asked.

"Carlisle is rich as a king," I said, smirking. "We knocked down two houses to build ours, and our back yard backs out into the forest, so we consider that part of our property."

"You're kidding?" she gaped. Why was it that hard to believe?

"No, I'm not. You can come over some time, if you want."

"Can we go there now?" she asked, sounding excited.

"No, I'm locked out, remember?" I reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. You hungry?" she asked.

"Yes, I haven't eaten anything all day." I said. I hadn't realised how hungry I was, the last thing I'd eaten was before that stupid party. Then I wound up in jail…and well, you know the rest.

"You haven't eaten _all day_?" Bella asked incredulously.

"Nope. I think the last time I ate was lunch yesterday."

"_Why?_" She asked the question as if I was mentally retarded, which she probably already though I was after the punching-the-door stunt.

"Long story. Can we grab something to eat, and then I'll tell you."

"Sure." She said, making her way down to the kitchen. "We don't have a great variety of food, sorry."

"That's okay." I was hungry enough to eat a horse.

"So, um, we have left-over pizza from lunch, or ice-cream." She said, smiling apologetically.

"Can I have some pizza?" I asked.

"Sure. Hawaiian or Meat-Lovers?"

"Both?" I asked. I was really that hungry.

"I'll heat up the whole box." She said, pulling out a large plate and putting twelve slices of cold pizza on it.

I couldn't help but notice the way her shirt rose up her back the tiniest bit when she reached up to close the cupboard.

It was only a tiny bit, but it was enough to see the thin waist-band of her lime green underwear.

God, that nearly had me standing up. I was drooling as it is! She bent down to plug in her microwave and her tiny shorts strained against her ass, causing an uncomfortable tightness in my pants.

_Shit! What the hell do I now? _I couldn't let her see the rock hard erection I was sporting, what would she think? _That I'm a nymph, or a pervert or something, _I thought dryly.

"Um, Bella?" I asked, praying that she wouldn't turn around.

"Yes?" She asked, shoving the plate in the microwave and closing the door.

"I need to use the passing out room."

"Sure, it's upstairs," she said, punching in the numbers and pressing start.

"I know it's upstairs." I said, shaking my head. She started to turn, so I stood up quickly and walked out the room.

"Back in a few." I mumbled stupidly as I hobbled up the stairs.

As soon as I stepped into the bathroom I locked the door and unbuttoned my pants. I sighed in relief as my jeans fell to the floor, my jocks following after. I looked down at my throbbing dick, watching it grow before my eyes.

This was all Bella's fault. _Why was she so damn sexy? _

I braced myself against the wall with my left hand, grabbing my shaft in my right hand and began wanking off in a bathroom that belonged to a girl I'd just met.

It didn't take very long; after thirty seconds, a small pearl coloured bead appeared at the tip of my dick, after sixty seconds I was on the edge of an orgasm. I bit my lip in effort to not scream in pleasure and pumped one last time before half-collapsing over the bench. I reached out and grabbed a piece of fabric off the floor and held it on my dick until all the fluids stopped leaking out of me. I gasped quietly, trying to catch my breath while I stood up and washed my hands. I looked down at the limp dick between my legs and half smiled.

_Mission accomplished, _I thought stupidly. I looked around for my jocks and saw in dismay that they were covered in cum.

_Shit! I could have grabbed any towel, or even a piece of toilet paper, and I had to grab my jocks!_ Well, at least it wasn't my jeans. I threw my jocks in the bin; there was no point in keeping them now, and pulled on my jeans before flushing the toilet -what if she was listening? - and heading back down stairs.

I must have been pretty quick; the pizza was still revolving in the microwave. Bella was gone, what the hell? I ducked my head out the door and saw her standing in the poker room, hissing angrily into the phone.

"You were the one badgering me about making friends! No, I wasn't kidnapped; I went down to the beach! Yes, I have a friend over now! Does it matter? You don't need to know that… Charlie, I'm seventeen, I don't need to hold my father's hand while walking down the street anymore."

I smiled at the way the crease appeared between her eyebrows again; it was cute. She paced back and forth angrily, her frown getting deeper and deeper as she listened to her father.

"I wish I'd just stayed with Renee and Phil. One more year and I don't even have to go to school anymore, couldn't Phil have waited that much longer? Then I wouldn't have to spend every minute of the day yelling at _you_!" she screeched.

Everything was quiet for a while except for the sound of Bella's heavy breathing. She was doing well; I thought she would've lost her voice by now.

"I don't care, Charlie. I'm home now, and I'm perfectly fine, just go do whatever. Yeah, bye." She hung up and scowled at the wall before turning and walking back towards the booze room. She didn't realize I was standing here until she was two feet away from me. She jumped and looked up at me, her mouth popping open into a little surprised 'O'.

"You didn't hear all that, did you?" she asked, sounding embarrassed.

"Just the end part." I said.

"That was the worst part!" she groaned. "You must think we're uncooperative. Which, I guess, we are."

"Families fight all the time." I said.

She opened her mouth like she wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by the loud beeping coming from the microwave.

"Pizza's ready!" she said, and the crease between her eyebrows disappeared. I smiled and followed her, focusing my eyes on the wall in front of her.

I sat down on one of the three un-matching chairs and Bella set the plate in front of me. I grabbed a piece eagerly and scarfed it down, not even tasting it. I picked up another and it went down just a quickly.

I realized Bella hadn't even had one yet and I resisted the temptation to grab another piece and smiled encouragingly at her. She just stared at me, but not in horror or disgust, more like daydreaming.

"Not hungry?" I asked, grinning at her.

She snapped out of her trance and picked of a piece, nibbling on the end.

"So what happened with your old man?" I asked, grabbing another piece and taking a more civilized bite out of it.

"He didn't know where I was and he got worried. He went looking for me, thinking that Emmett and Jasper had abducted me or something." She laughed.

I laughed too; even drunk, Emmett and Jasper wouldn't kidnap people and rape them or anything.

"So why'd he get so angry?" I asked, taking another bite.

"He'd actually gone down to the police station to report that I was missing because I'd had my phone on silent and I wasn't answering. He dobbed Emmett and Jasper in as 'suspected assaulters'."

I burst out laughing at that. "Man, that's funny!" I said.

"I know, right?" She said, taking another small bite of her pizza. At the rate I was eating at, she was only going to eat that one slice.

"So tell me your story." She said.

"What story?" I asked.

"The one about why you haven't eaten for over twenty-four hours"

"Oh. That one."

"Don't you want to tell me?" she teased, finishing her slice of pizza and heading for the fridge. "You wanna drink?" she asked.

"What you got?" I asked.

"Carlton Draught, Red Bull, uh… Mother, Coke and that's it."

"I'll take a beer." Carlisle didn't need to know.

She grabbed two cans of Carlton Draught and set one on the table in front of me.

"Now talk." She demanded.

"Don't judge me, okay?" I said. I didn't want Bella to go running to her father, telling stories of how the guy who lives around the block got in a fight and went to jail.

"I won't. Why would I judge you on your eating habits?"

I ignored her teasing question and sighed, unsure of where to start.

"So there was a party last night down at someone's house and I wasn't invited. Neither was Jasper or Emmett, or their girlfriends. We gate crashed the party and brought a car full of beer with us. Everyone got seriously drunk and my memory disappears from there, but I was told that I got in a fight with someone and stuffed my jaw, we're not sure if it's broken or not. Well the other guy went straight to hospital in an ambo and everything, something to do with his nuts."

Bella laughed at that. "Geeze that was stupid of you."

"I know, but it gets worse."

"That's hard to believe. What happened now?"

"Well, like I said before, my memory blanks out because I'm so drunk, and I wake up at the cops station at around two in the morning. It was the worst hangover ever. I had to sit in a jail cell for eight hours, puking up every few minutes and trying to ignore the massive headache I had until Carlisle came down and took me home. He gave me curfew for a month; I have to be home by eight-thirty every night, no car and only one can of beer and one cigarette a day."

"I guess this is your only can, then" she said, nodding her head at the unopened can of Carlton Draught in my hands. I'd forgotten about it actually, so I popped it open and took a long swig from it.

"That was nice." I sighed. We both jumped when we heard the screen door hit the wall, and Bella's father walked in, grumbling to himself.

"So where's your friend? Did she go home already?" he asked, hanging his coat up and turning to face us. His jaw dropped when he saw me sitting at the table next to Bella and he turned a deep shade of purple.

"_He _is right here. And his name is Edward." Bella corrected, seeming unaware of her father's anger.

I watched in amusement as his face went from purple to red, from red to green and finally staying on white.

"Wh-wh…but you…how come…what…?" he spluttered incoherently.

"_Ed-Ward._" Bella said slowly, as if he were struggling to pronounce my name. "His name is Edward."

"I don't care what his name is!" Charlie roared.

"Calm down, dad! What's your problem?" Bella asked, finally catching onto his mood.

Charlie ignored her and turned to me. "Get the hell out of my house!"

I stood up quickly and backed towards the door, scared stiff. Now I understood what Emmett meant.

"I already told you to stay of my property, come back again and I'll call the police!" he screamed, droplets of sweat beading on his forehead.

"Dad! That was two different boys! Edward's my friend!" Bella defended me.

I saw Charlie's anger evaporate slightly and he frowned in confusion at me.

"You're not one of the kids who assaulted my daughter this evening, Edwin?" he demanded.

"Dad!" Bella hissed.

"Edward. And no, sir."

He ignored her and narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're a friend of Bella's are you, Edwin?" He asked.

"Edward. And yes, sir. I met her down at the beach." No need to tell him about my anger issues.

"You're not hitting on her, I hope?" he asked, a little bit of the previous anger coming back.

"Dad!" Bella exclaimed.

"What? I'm your father, I have right to know. You plan on being here much longer, Edwin?"

"Edward. Well, I'm sort of locked out of my house. I was waiting for my dad to get home from work but he's working night shifts so he won't back till late."

"Well I suppose you could hang put here for a while. But you ain't spending the night, you here me?"

"Yes, sir." I smiled at him and he grimaced back in response before turning on his heel and stalking into the next room. I heard the sound of the football running on TV and I guessed he'd be down there for a while. Great, now we couldn't talk without being overheard.

"Do you wanna go upstairs?" Bella asked me.

"Yeah. We'll go to the nothing room." I said.

"You mean my bedroom?" She asked.

"Yep"

Once we'd shut the door and locked it so Charlie couldn't burst in, I sat in the far corner of the room with my back pressed up against the wall and my legs stretched out. Bella sat cross-legged in front of me, only a few feet away from me.

"You know, you could probably spend the night if you wanted too" she said, playing with the soft carpeting.

I froze when I heard that. Was she _hitting_ on me? I swallowed and hurried to answer her before she asked if I was mentally disabled. "As much as I'd love too, I think both your dad and my dad would kill me, and I'd be grounded forever."

"That's too bad" she said, and she really did sound upset.

"You could come over to my place sometime, if you wanted. My curfew didn't say anything about other people coming over to my house after eight-thirty." I suggested, hoping she'd say yes. Maybe I'd finally found the right girl.

"Bring Emmett and Jasper, we can have a party!" She said, her face lighting up with excitement while I tried my hardest to stop my face from falling.

_Der! _I thought angrily. You only just met her. She just thinks you're a nice friend.

"I'll get their girlfriends to come over too, you can get to know them better" I said. I could just picture Bella sitting next to Rose and Alice. She fitted right in with them.

"Rosalie and Alice?" she asked.

"How did you know their names?" I asked, confused. I hadn't mentioned them before.

"Uh, Jasper and Emmett said something about it when I saw them before" she mumbled, her face turning the sexiest shade of pink.

My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket and I fished it out to check who was messaging me.

"Who is it?" Bella asked curiously.

I glanced down and saw Carlisle's name flash up on the screen, followed by his angry message.

"It's Carlisle" I told her. "He wants to know where I am, and why I'm breaking curfew"

"I thought he was working night shifts?" Bella asked.

"Me too. I guess he came home early to check in on me."

"I wonder what he made of the broken door" Bella giggled.

"He probably knows it was me" I admitted.

"Do you do that kind of thing a lot?" She asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Well I have broken the shower door before, and I smashed my car windscreen a few years ago"

"You have serious anger issues," she accused. "Maybe you should see someone about it"

"Like I can afford it, I can barely afford to get gas in the car"

"But now you're not driving a car because of your curfew. You have all this extra cash now" she pointed out.

"I don't want to waste my money on a therapist! I'll go see someone if they don't want money for it" _As if anyone would do it for free,_ I thought.

"You could come to me, _I_ don't want money" she suggested, smiling hopefully.

My heart skipped a beat and then picked up again, going double time.

She wanted me to go to her for therapy? Was she really concerned about my anger issues or did she just want to hang out more? Why were girls so tricky? What was wrong with being blunt and just saying 'will you go out with me?'

"If you don't mind my annoyingness" I said lamely.

"You're not annoying" she quoted me, taking another sip of beer. "Do you have to go now?"

"Yeah, I don't want this curfew going on any longer" I said, pushing up of the ground and heading for the door. I heard Bella get up behind me and follow me down the stairs.

When I reached the front door, I turned around to find Bella right behind me, far too close. She leaned in towards me and I felt myself leaning in toward her too, inhaling her sweet scent. I stared into her deep chocolate brown eyes and found myself lost in the depth of them; they seemed to go on for eternity. She leaned closer until her perfect little nose was just inches from mine and her breath was fanning across my face.

The sound of china shattering against hard tiling brought me back into reality.

"What the hell are you doing?" Charlie roared, spit flying from his mouth.

I jumped backwards into the door and the handle slammed into the small of my back while Bella stumbled backwards over her own feet and had to grab the edge of the table to avoid landing on her face. I groaned and rubbed at my back, trying to rid some of the pain away while Charlie silently fumed in front of me.

"I thought you weren't hitting on my daughter?" he yelled.

I didn't know what to say; I wasn't hitting on Bella, I don't think. That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done; it even topped my door breaking stunt earlier this evening. Bella and I were sitting up in that room for an hour, door locked and Charlie safely downstairs and out of the way and we didn't touch each other once. Then I walk downstairs, with Charlie in plain view and nearly kiss her! But I didn't mean too, I was helpless under her power. She drew me in with those seductive eyes, I didn't stand a chance.

We all stood there for a minute; Bella's face completely red, eyes down on the floor, Charlie's eyes bugging out of his head, steam puffing from his ears and me, standing there like a dickhead with a sore back. I didn't know what to do, what to say.

So I turned around and ran out the door like the coward I was.

I raced down the street and into the blackness, sloshing through puddles and dodging the few cars as they drove by, horns honking angrily. I even earned myself a few fingers, not that I didn't give one back.

When I reached the front door I saw the can of beer I'd brought with me earlier. It still looked alright; I could drink it later. I picked it up and trudged through the unlocked door, turning on the lights as I kicked of my shoes. I turned around to head upstairs and nearly had a heart attack.

"Mum!" I gasped, bending down to retrieve the can I just dropped.

She just glared at me fiercely, her small face almost as angry as Charlie's. She was so tiny, much smaller than I was.

"I'm sorry, about everything. I swear I didn't mean too, I got drunk and I wasn't thinking straight-"I was interrupted by a loud sob and then Esme's short arms wrapped around my waist. She cried into my shirt, sobbing hysterically while I winced in pain; her hands were rubbing my sore back.

"Mum, I'm sorry. Please, don't…don't _cry_." I would have preferred it if she'd yelled, or slapped me or something. Her tears were worse than any physical pain she could have done to me.

"Oh, Edward, you're cold!" she whispered, tears still pouring from her eyes.

"I was out late, at a friends place." I explained.

"They should have put the heating on! I don't want my baby boy catching a cold. Why didn't you ask them?" she scolded me.

"They don't have heating yet, Mum. They just moved here from Arizona; they never needed it there"

"Oh!" She squeaked, pulling away from me and looking up into my eyes. "You made a new friend? What's his name? You'll have to introduce me."

"It's a girl, Mum" I said, gauging her reaction.

Her golden eyes opened even wider and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"She's just a friend." I said quickly, but Esme ignored me and hugged me again, fresh tears overflowing and sliding down her cheeks.

"Oh, Edward! Finally, you've found someone!" she gushed, her face turning pink with excitement.

I frowned at the way she said _finally_. "She's only a friend" I repeated.

Just then Carlisle walked into the room, a frown on his face. He opened his mouth to speak but Esme interrupted him before he got a chance.

"Edward has a girlfriend!" she squealed, hugging me again, tighter than before.

"Ow!" I protested, trying to shove her away. "No, she's just a friend, Dad. I only just met her; she just moved in the Crowley's old house"

"Would that be the Swan girl?" he asked, the frown disappearing of his face, only to be replaced with curiosity.

"Yes. Her and her father, Charlie." I answered. "Hey, dad. I think I hurt my hand, and my back."

"Would that have anything to do with the broken front door?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It could…" I hedged.

Carlisle sighed and held out his hand. "Let me have a look at it."

"How's my jaw, by the way?" I asked as Carlisle's expert hands caressed mine.

"It's just bruised. Has it been giving you trouble?"

"What's your girlfriend's name?" Esme interrupted.

"She's _not_ my girlfriend!" I defended.

"Well is she a _girl_" Esme asked.

"Yes" I said. Obviously she was a girl, her name's _Bella_.

"And is she your _friend_?"

I sighed heavily. "Yes."

"Then she's your girlfriend!"

"Mum, you are such a kid" I groaned. "Beside, I have loads of friends that are girls, like Alice and Rosalie."

"But you're not crushing on either of them" she pointed out.

"Who said I was crushing on Bella?" I asked.

"Bella!" Esme cried out. "Such a beautiful name! Did you know that _bella _is Italian for _beautiful_?"

"I don't give a shit about Italians!" I yelled, aggravated beyond belief. I expected Esme to hit me then, or at least give me a lecture on swearing, but she went on like she didn't hear me.

"Tell me more about Bella. Is she pretty?" Esme pressed.

I took a deep breath and let it out before answering"I don't know, Mum. I can't answer that, she's just a friend. I only just met her!"

"You don't have to like her to know if she's pretty or not" Esme said matter-of-factly.

I cursed silently in my mind before closing my eyes and counting to ten.

_One, two, three…_

"I reckon she's really pretty. Blonde hair and tanned skin; that's what people from Arizona look like" Esme gushed.

_Four, five, six…_

"She's probably got big boobs too. You're lucky, Edward. But you'll have to grab her before someone else takes her"

_Seven, eight, nine…_

"Have you kissed her yet?"

_Ten._ "I'm going upstairs." I muttered, dodging around my mother and father and climbing the stairs two at a time.

I turned around and slammed my door as loud as I could, just so Esme knew how much she'd pissed me off, before turning to my bed which was my savior. I plonked down on it and groaned as my back hit the edge of the mattress.

God, I'd really fucked up over the last forty-eight hours.

I wasn't looking forward to tomorrow either; I'd have to walk to and from school in the pouring rain that Alice had predicted. A normal person would check the weather on TV but Alice was as good as any weather man, probably better. She had this curious talent of knowing things that could happen most of the time.

I sat up and pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it over my shoulder and lying down again in the darkness. It wasn't complete darkness, though.

The pale moon was shining through my window, leaving a bright streak of light across my bedroom floor.

I smiled at that. Maybe tomorrow wouldn't be so dark, maybe Bella would help to brighten it out a little bit.

* * *

**A/n: What's the most embarrassing thing your old lady's ever done?**

**xoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: I am so sorry for the extremely late update and if I ever go that long without updating again I promise that you can shoot me:)  
So I have this FREAKIN AMAZING beta reader jewels622, who without, this story wouldn't be. I love her so much and seriously she has been amazing especially because she spent 50% of her time beta-ing throwing up because she was sick:(  
But she's all better now, and she'll probably murder me now because I just told everyone that she threw up:)  
**

**dedications:  
To my babe jewels622 because of her massive contribution to this story  
To my amazing boyfriend Jayden who's a massive inspiration and a 'sexy hunk' (he actually asked me to say that.)  
To my fuck-ass friends who love my smutty stories  
And to my readers and reviewers because I write these stories for you.**

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When I opened my eyes I noticed something was very different. Something quick and loud was tapping against my window in an annoyingly repetitive pattern and it was driving me insane. I threw back the covers and glared at my frosted-over window. It was raining, freezing cold, and I couldn't see the sun. Huh, no surprises there. This was Forks after all.

_What the hell?_ I thought angrily. What happened to the sun that was supposed to _rise_ every morning? It looked like it had skipped over Forks entirely. I rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom, carrying my bag of toiletries.

A nice steaming hot shower seemed like a good idea, so I stripped off and hopped under the warm spray. The shower helped warm me up, but did nothing for my drowsiness; it seemed even worse now. I got out, toweled myself dry, and started getting ready for the day.

By the time I'd finished washing my face and drying my hair I'd pretty much woken up. I wrapped my towel around my torso and padded back to my room barefoot. I changed into my jeans and a t-shirt, topping it off with my grey hoody. I'd never found the need to wear a hoody in Phoenix; it was far too hot, but It looked like I'd be wearing a lot more of them now.

When I walked downstairs I saw that Charlie's Police Uniform was gone and figured he'd probably gone to the station. A peek through the front window confirmed my suspicion; the cruiser was gone. In its place was an old beat-up red truck Charlie had bought for me. When he said he'd gotten me a car off one of his friends yesterday I'd been horrified, but I liked the look of this truck. It was strong and sturdy; like it could take on anything .

I closed the curtain fully so I didn't have to look at the pouring rain and instead busied myself making breakfast. I hadn't realized how early it was when I'd woken up. What was I supposed to do for the next hour? I decided on a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Anything bigger and I'd probably fall asleep with the stove on. I slowly ate my breakfast, chewing one cheerio at a time until the whole bowl was finished.

I finished my cereal and checked the time. It was still much too early, I could have slept in.

I sat there just staring at the wall for a few minutes, watching the way the almost-invisible paint strokes had moved up and down, up and down, up and down… wow, this town is already making me go crazy.

I headed out the door into the sheeting rain to my new -well new to me- car and jumped in, slamming the door shut behind me. At least there was _something_ warm in this stupid town. The car keys were sitting on the passenger seat with a tiny pink ribbon tied onto them in a messy knot that was supposed to be a bow.

I ripped the ribbon out of the way and kicked it under the seat before starting up my monstrous car for the first time.

The engine roared to life like the sound of a gunshot and idled at top volume, waiting for me to start driving.

I carefully backed down the drive and followed the road until I reached the highway. I had no clue where the school was, but it couldn't be too far.

It would have been nice of Charlie to give me a map or something, I mean, he used to live here before I was even born. He probably went to Forks High when he was my age; I didn't think there were any other schools around here. As my truck thundered down the wet roads I kept an eye out for pedestrians, though it was unlikely anyone would go for a walk in this weather.

I squinted through the window, trying to read each street sign as it passed when I spotted someone walking down the side of the road. The pouring rain was soaking their clothes and they didn't even have an umbrella. Something inside me was telling me to pull over and see if they wanted a lift so I turned off the road and stopped by the footpath.

I leaned over the passenger seat and rolled down the window.

"Do you want a ride?" I yelled out, swallowing a large amount of falling rain.

The person turned to look at me and nodded their head, running for the shelter of my truck. As they got closer I realized it was a boy, probably only a year or so older than me. He yanked open my car door and slammed it shut, rolling up the stiff window with his free hand. I looked at his dripping wet hair and felt a strange jolt in my chest. It was as if there was an electrical charge running of his body.

"Thanks. I was starting to regret not catching a lift with my friend." a familiar voice said.

"Edward?" I asked, peering closer at his face. He turned towards me in surprise, mouth half open to say something, and then his whole face lit up in a smile.

"Bella!" he grinned.

"It's nice to see you again!" I said, grinning along with him as I drove back onto the road.

"It's great to see you too. Thank you _so much_. Carlisle took away my driving privileges so now I have to walk everywhere." Edward said.

"That's gotta suck in a place like Forks." I said.

"It does." he said glumly.

"Hey, I could give you a lift every day, if you want." I suggested, a blush spreading across my cheeks.

I saw his dazzling smile in response and I knew he was just as thrilled as me at the idea.

"Yes, please! Walking really sucks, but anything is better than sitting in a car with _Rosalie_ for twenty minutes."

I laughed, remembering his conversation on the beach with his friends. It was hard to believe that this time yesterday I didn't even know Edward existed. It seemed like I'd known him all my life, rather than just a few hours.

"So, do you even know where school is?" he asked, a smile in his voice.

I blushed when I realized I still had no clue where I was going.

"Uh, no?" It sounded like a question.

He laughed while I turned a deeper shade of red.

"Just continue down the highway and turn left" he directed. I followed his instructions until I reached a small set of buildings I wouldn't have recognized as a school if it weren't for the huge sign that dominated the front garden- Forks High School.

I turned into the parking lot and slid in between a beat-up blue van and a sleek BMW red convertible. When I switched off the engine, I saw three kids still sitting in the BMW. In front was Jasper, the blonde boy I'd met outside my house. Sitting next to him, laughing and holding his hand was a tiny pale girl with spiky black hair pointing in every direction. This had to be Alice.

Sulking in the back seat sat a blonde girl who was prettier than any other girl I'd ever seen. Everything about her was perfect; her eyes, her nose, her lips. Yet she sat with a compact mirror in one hand while carefully applying lip gloss to her already over-done lips. Edward laughed and I spun around to look at him.

"That was supposed to be my ride this morning." he grimaced. "Can you imagine sitting in the back seat with Rosalie screeching at you because she lost her eyeliner and she's accusing you of theft? What the hell would _I_ do with _eyeliner?_"

I laughed at the outraged expression on his face; even grimacing like that he still looked more angel than man.

Mercifully the pouring rain had decreased to a gentle drizzle, so I wasn't as afraid to get out of my car. I opened the stiff door and jumped out, having to grab the side mirror to avoid hitting the ground. I blushed and hoped none of the kids in the car next to me had noticed.

"Bella?" a male voice asked. I looked up to see Jasper smiling at me, two small dimples appearing on either side of his face.

"Hi, Jasper." I smiled back.

"Hello Bella!" A high soprano voice trilled from behind Jasper. "I'm Alice. Jasper's told me all about you, we are going to be great friends"

"Geeze, Alice slow down. Don't freak her out" Edward joked, appearing beside me. He had my duffel bag slung over his shoulder and I smiled at the sweet gesture.

"I'm not freaked out." I said, reaching for my bag. He handed it to me and my heart accelerated as his hand brushed against mine.

Jasper and Alice got out of the car and came over by us. Alice sitting on the hood of the car, her tiny arms wrapping around her knees.

"It's cold." she shivered. Jasper leaned against the car and slung an arm casually over her shoulder.

"If you keep putting that shit on your lips, Rose, you're gonna end up with lips bigger then a walrus's butt." Jasper teased his sister.

Rose looked up and narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, Edward?" She asked without even looking at him. "I found my eyeliner. It was in Jasper's room after all."

Alice laughed and slapped Rosalie a dainty high five.

"Nice, Jasper. You're turning into a chick." Edward grimaced.

"And Rose is turning into a dude. You know she got that job at Dowling's Mechanics yesterday?" Jasper laughed.

Rosalie hissed angrily. "It's better than anything _you've_ ever done!"

"What if I got a job at a beauty salon?" Jasper teased.

"Oh, very manly, Jazz. Maybe I could join you." Edward joined in.

"We could open our own salon!" Jasper exclaimed.

"We'll name it EJ's beauty parlour!" Edward said stupidly.

"And female mechanics aren't allowed." Jasper finished.

Alice and I burst out laughing at the stupidity of the conversation. Edward flashed me a smile and I blushed furiously, looking down at my shoes.

"Piss off, Alice. Don't you fucking laugh at me." Rosalie hissed.

I noticed Rosalie didn't acknowledge that I had laughed too. I wondered if that was out of courtesy or if she was just ignoring me. As if she heard my thoughts she turned to glare at me and I shrank back.

Okay, what the hell was that for? I hadn't said a word to her yet, what could I possibly have done to make her dislike me so quickly?

"So you walked to school?" Jasper smirked, eyeing Edward's dripping clothes.

"I started to, but about ten minutes in Bella rescued me." he answered.

"Did you guys just meet?" Alice asked, eyeing the small distance between Edward and myself.

"No, Edward and I met last night." I said.

"How nice. Now maybe Edward will have a friend." Rosalie deadpanned. We all turned to watch her snap her compact mirror shut and exit the car gracefully, a large dressy bag slung over one shoulder.

Suddenly the bell rang causing every kid in the car park to leave the warmth of their cars and head out into the light mist that was spraying down from the dark sky.

"Emmett gonna be here soon?" Rosalie asked, sulking again.

"He'll be here at recess" Alice said.

Rosalie frowned and turned on her heel, stalking off towards the buildings.

"We should go too." Jasper said, helping Alice off the BMW hood. "I have Cohen first period. That wanker's already given me three detentions for being late."

"Bye, Bella!" Alice called over her shoulder as the two of them followed after Rosalie.

I waved at her and turned back to Edward. "Do I have to check-in at the office or something?"

"Probably. You'll need a class schedule and everything. I'll come with you, I have science first period and I hate that class with a passion."

"Okay." I agreed excitedly. I slammed the truck door shut as we headed for the building marked _administration_.

Once inside I sighed with relief. There had to be around five heaters all turned on in this tiny room the warmth surrounding me making me feel like I was in a sauna. Edward walked in and sighed as well before walking right up to the front desk.

"Mrs. Cope? He asked politely.

The receptionist looked up and smiled a little too welcomingly at Edward, batting her eyelashes.

"Mr. Cullen!" She exclaimed. "How are you, my dear?"

"I'm very well, thank you. I have a new student with me." He gestured towards me and I stepped forward shyly.

"Hello, dear. And what's your name? Her eyes not leaving Edward as she spoke to me.

"My name is Bella Swan. I think my dad already enrolled me."

"I'll have a look on the computer, honey. I won't be a moment" Mrs. Cope replied, smiling once more before turning to her extremely out dated computer.

"Swan…" she murmured. "I do have someone booked down as _Isabella_ Swan. But no _Bella's_…"

I blushed and Edward chuckled beside me. "That would be me. I go by Bella, though"

"Sure, honey. It'll take me a few weeks to correct that, so all the class rolls will have Isabella written on them. You'll just have to explain it to the teachers, okay?"

"Sure" I said, internally groaning. Weeks of everybody calling me _Isabella_. Stupid Charlie. He could have listed me down as _Bella. _

"This is your schedule honey. If you need any help just pop back up here and I can tell you where you need to be." She nodded at Edward and smiled again. "Or you could ask one of the nice students here like Mr. Cullen. I'm sure they're all willing to lend you a hand."

"Of course I'll be more than willing to show you around." Edward replied, flashing one of those dazzling smiles that momentarily dazed me. I didn't fail to notice the glazed over look in Mrs. Cope's eyes and I frowned disapprovingly. Edward was young enough to be her _son_ for God's sakes!

"Okay. Thank you." I said stiffly, turning away and heading back outside.

"That's alright, dear. Well have fun!"

"Fun in Forks?" I muttered. No one was supposed to hear me, but I heard Edward chuckle quietly.

I stepped out into the gentle drizzle that sprayed my face and headed for a shelter I could see straight ahead. I sat down on one of the benches and stared at the black and white grid in my hands.

"Need some help?" Edward asked, sitting down beside me.

I grinned evilly at Edward. "She wants to get in your pants."

Edward frowned at me. "What are you talking about?"

"Mrs. Cope. She's heaps desperate for you!" I teased.

"Isn't everybody?" he teased back, all crookedy smile and cute boy grin.

I blushed and changed the subject before I could start hyperventilating. "Tell me what my period one class is, and who my teacher is."

"English, with Sculley. That's up in building 12." He pointed to our left.

"What do you have?" I asked, hoping he had the same thing.

"Science with Mr. Stevens. Ungh, physics! Emmett's in my class, but he's coming late today."

"Oh." I said disappointed.

"Don't worry; you've got history with Berty next. That's my history class." he assured me.

"Oh good!" I sighed with relief. Edward looked at me curiously and blushed.

He chuckled and smiled the most breathtakingly beautiful crooked smile that sent my heart into spastic fits.

"Do you need help getting to class?" he asked, still smiling as I stood there staring at him like an idiot, trying to unscramble my brain.

"If you know where it is, you can go by yourself," he said quickly, the smile vanishing abruptly.

"No. I'd like it if you could show me around," I said, still feeling a little dazed.

The smile returned and I smiled back shyly in response.

Edward stood up and I followed, stuffing my timetable into my bag.

"Come and hang with us at lunch, okay?" Edward said as we started walking.

"Sure. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. It'll be nice to have a new face at our table,"

We kept walking in comfortable silence.

"Is Rosalie upset because Emmett's not here?" I asked after a while.

Edward shrugged. "Rosalie always acts like that. It's probably a bit worse because of Emmett, but she's not exactly a ray of sunshine all the time."

"She's very pretty." I stated.

"Yeah, I guess. You should have seen every guy following her around like the dickheads they are. She actually used to get off on it, but when she started dating Emmett all the guys sort of backed down a bit." he laughed a little.

"I can imagine why." I said, laughing with him. I couldn't see any guy trying to pick a fight with Emmett.

"This is building 12." Edward said, pointing to the navy blue door in front of us.

"I'll see you in history." I said as I sadly waved goodbye to him. I thought I saw something in his eyes, sadness maybe, but he'd turned before I could see properly. I felt strangely empty without him standing beside me as if a part of me was missing.

I took a deep breath and counted to ten before pushing down on the door handle and walking into the class room. The second I stepped in, all the raucous laughter stopped and twenty-two pairs of eyes immediately turned to stare at me.

I glanced up at the desk that was situated at the front of the room and saw a forty-something year old slightly balding man wearing an expensive looking suit.

He smiled at me and I smiled back in response. He seemed nice enough.

"Isabella Swan?" he asked.

One girl sitting only three seats away from where I was standing burst out into a fit of giggles and the girl sitting beside her smirked at me. I blushed red and looked down at my feet, fighting back the tears that were threatening to leak out.

"Her name is Bella," a perfect voice corrected.

The mean girl who was giggling abruptly fell silent and for a brief second all the eyes that were on me turned to the back of the class room. I looked up, the blush fading from cheeks in surprise.

Rosalie Hale was standing up, her seat pushed back into the wall. She was glaring viciously at the girl who had laughed at me, her perfect face pinched together in distaste.

"Sit down, Rosalie. No need for a cat fight," the teacher joked, easily breaking the tension. A few people laughed at the joke, but neither Rosalie nor the mean girl shifted an inch from their positions.

"Up here, Bella." the teacher called, ignoring the tense standoff between the two girls. I headed up to the teacher's desk, tripping in my haste and having to catch myself on the edge of someone's table. The boy sitting there laughed quietly and whispered something to his friend. I ignored them both and stopped at Mr. Sculley's desk.

"Hello, Bella. I'm Mr. Sculley and this will be your English class for the rest of the year. You have quite a bit of work to catch up on, but I'll give you everything you will need after class."

He handed me a thick English book and I was suddenly aware that every kid in the class was listening to our conversation. I thanked the teacher and searched for a seat. I was extra careful not to trip over anything, knowing I couldn't handle another person laughing at me.

I looked around the class room to find a seat. There was one right up the front next to a group of nerdy looking boys and another one next to the two girls that laughed at my name.

Then I noticed a seat next to Rosalie and Alice in the back and decided on that one. When I sat down I was aware of everyone's eyes on me. Alice stopped glaring at our classmates and smiled sweetly at me. I smiled back, glad to have a friend on my side.

I almost expected Rosalie to smile at me after sticking up for me, but of course she treated me just like she did this morning. She sat down stiffly and stared straight ahead, not bothering to acknowledge me in any way.

Mr. Sculley then continued on where he'd left off, almost as if I hadn't entered the class room.

"I'm glad we have at least _one_ class together! Now we can get to know each other better!" Alice said as she turned towards me and beamed.

I smiled back at her, still unable to conceal my previous hurt.

Alice's tiny face softened sadly when she realized what had upset me.

"Ignore them" she said, glaring at the mean girls again. "They're just bitches."

"Who are they?" I whispered, my voice cracking in some places.

"The girl with blonde hair and a face like a boston terrier is Lauren Mallory. The one who pig-snorted with the curly brown hair and the walrus butt is Jessica Stanley. They'd both do anything for attention."

I looked back at Jessica and Lauren to see them both giggling and eyeing one of the boys seated in front of them. _Pathetic. _

"So how are you liking Forks?" Alice asked me, trying to be friendly.

"It's nice." I lied. There was really nothing good about this town; it was small, pokey, cheap, dirty and constantly being rained upon. The complete opposite of my home town of Phoenix.

"That's not very convincing," she said, frowning in disapproval.

"It's great, really." I half heartedly assured her while trying to ignore all the other kids ogling at me; it was really unnerving.

"Well, _whatever_, you're gonna be _loving_ this place by the time we're done with you!" she grinned excitedly at me. Rosalie snorted and turned towards us.

"What are you planning on doing? Taking her out on a date?"

Alice laughed quietly. "No, that's Edward's job!"

I blushed red when she mentioned Edward.

"I think he likes you." Alice grinned.

"The first girl he's ever liked." Rosalie muttered.

"Jealous, Rose?" Alice teased.

"Jealous of _her_? Definitely not." Rosalie retorted.

I nearly started crying at her words, hoping she didn't mean them the way they came out.

"Don't tell me you weren't after Edward when we were fifteen." Alice smiled.

"I was _not_ after Edward!" Rose said hotly.

Alice just laughed. "She so was. Looks like you got some competition." She whispered in my ear.

When I didn't reply she became concerned.

"Bella, are you okay?" she asked.

I just nodded, fighting the tears.

"I was only kidding! You know I was kidding, right?"

I looked away when a few tears leaked out.

"Bella, I've never seen Edward look at a girl the way he watches you."

"Really?" I asked, wiping away the tears so I could look at her.

"Really. I think he might actually like you. It's something about the way he acts when he's around you. This morning he was just so... _alive_."

"So he's never been with anyone before?" I asked. I found that hard to believe.

"Don't get us wrong, he has been with girls, just not _been _with them." Rosalie said.

"I don't understand." I confessed.

"Basically he's fucked every girl in this school except for me and Rose." Alice clarified.

"Wow. I guess I should have expected as much," I murmured. He's fucked _every girl_ in the school? I hadn't slept with any guys back in Phoenix; I'd never even dated!

The bell rang then, a high keening sound that buzzed through the whole classroom. All the kids got up and trooped off towards their next classes. I slowly piled my books together, horrified at how the day was turning out.

"Do you need any help getting to your next class?" Alice asked, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Uh, yes please." I said, glad for some help. At least I wouldn't have to spend all day with my map and timetable shoved under my nose.

Rosalie stood up and walked past us with a second glance. I felt a wave of sadness as I realized how perfect Rosalie was and how I could never compare to her.

"Okay, then." Alice frowned at Rosalie's retreating figure. "Do you know what your next class is?"

"I have history with Edward. I think he said our teacher was Mr. Berty."

"That's my next class! I'll walk down with you." She smiled.

She led the way out of the classroom, chatting away to me as if we were the best of friends.

"So you're from Arizona, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. The weather is so different here." I answered.

"I imagine it's much warmer there."

"It is. It probably only rains five or six times a year."

"Wow. What must that be like?" she wondered.

"Sunny."

We turned the corner and stopped behind a small group of kids. Everyone had their books above their heads, shielding themselves from the rain that was now falling down in torrents.

"Hi Alice!" someone yelled over the insane chattering of the other kids. We both turned around to see Edward heading towards us, hair disheveled and dripping with rain.

"Edward!" Alice chirped, skipping forwards toward him and hugging him tightly.

"Hi, Edward," I said shyly, walking over to stand next to Alice.

"Bella?" Edward asked, letting go of Alice and looking down at me.

I smiled and waved at him and was shocked when he stepped forward, wrapped his arms around me and hugged me just as he'd hugged Alice.

"How are you?" he asked, letting go of me.

I laughed at him. "I saw you ten minutes ago." But suddenly I felt whole again, and I realized then that it was Edward.

Alice laughed; her high pitched laughter so infectious that even Edward had to join in.

"What's so funny, Miss Brandon?" Asked an old, grey haired man.

"Hello Mr. Berty. We have a new student." Alice smiled sweetly at the teacher.

"Do we now?" he asked, pausing to squint at me through the rain. "And what might your name be?"

"Bella, sir. Bella Swan." I answered.

"You wouldn't be Charlie Swan's daughter, would you?" he asked, a deep crease appearing in his already wrinkled forehead.

"That's me." I wondered what kind of gossip was floating around this place. In a town this small there could be no secrets.

"Well come on in, out of the rain." He unlocked the door and the class hurried into the warm classroom. I followed in behind Alice and the three of us found seats up the back. I don't know how they managed it, but nearly every pair of eyes was staring at us.

"Now today we will be discussing the Ancient Egyptians and how they lived." Mr. Berty began, slowly writing out _Ancient Egyptians _on the whiteboard.

"Boring!" Lauren Mallory called out, her horrible green-yellow eyes squinting. Jessica Stanley burst out laughing again, spit flying from her mouth causing some other girls to laugh as well.

A few pairs of eyes turned away from me to glance at the two girls sitting up front, but swivelled back to me immediately, scrutinizing everything about me. I suddenly felt self-conscious.

It looked like this was going to be a long day.

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**A/n: What have you been accused of theft for, when really it was someone else?**

**xoxo**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: dedications:**

**To my Stephy who's seen me every day of the holidays so far. You are true babe and I love you.  
To Jake, the biggest loser on this planet. You're really something special, and your motor bike is to die for!  
To my beta, Jewels622 who helped with this chapter hugely! I think she should know how amazing she really is.  
And you people, readers and reviewers. You're my Reason to put these up.**

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The bell finally rang, causing everyone to stand up and troop out of the classroom in their little groups of twos and threes.

"Will Emmett be here yet?" Alice asked, her high voice rising above the rest as we followed the crowd out of the classroom.

"I hope so. Sport with Rosalie and no Emmett will be total hell."

Alice laughed, clearly in agreement. "Now moving on to more important topics, you got any money? You promised to treat us."

"Shit! No and I'm hungry too!" I groaned.

Alice's tinkling laugh filled my ears. "What about you, Bella?"

"Umm, I didn't bring money either, but I'm not really hungry." Bella answered faintly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. Now that could finally look at her properly I could see how much paler she was today than when we had hung out last night.

"I'm feeling a little sick actually." She mumbled.

"Do you want to see the nurse?" Alice asked, concern plain on her face.

"No. I'll be fine. I think I'm just overwhelmed, I just need to get away from here." Bella replied.

"How about I-" But I was cut off by Alice.

"We'll go shopping. I'll buy you some new clothes." Alice interrupted.

"Any excuse to go shopping." I frowned. I was going to suggest that Bella spend the evening with me, but Bella was laughing with Alice and looked a lot happier.

At least Alice was helping her feel better.

Alice led the way through the thick crowd, weaving agilely through people and furniture like there was nothing too it.

I tried to keep my eyes on Bella's back as we squeezed through the crowd, but couldn't stop them from sliding down to her sexy ass every now and then...She looked so amazing.

I smiled as Bella tripped and stumbled her way across the floor. I had the feeling she wasn't very coordinated.

"Emmett! How's your leg?" I could hear Alice and followed the sound of her voice.

"Just pulled something or the other. I stopped listening after the Doc said I was good to go." Emmett's deep voice boomed.

"Where's Edward?" I heard Jasper ask.

"Right here," I replied, sitting down at the small circular table and watching as Bella half tripped over two young girls' feet and stumbled her way to our table.

"Hey, Swan. What's goin on?" Emmett asked.

She laughed at his rhyme and answered jokingly. "Nothing much. School's horrifying, but did I really expect anything different?"

Jasper laughed at Bella and smiling welcomingly. "So you'll be sitting with us from now on, right?"

"If that's okay." Bella sounded worried. "I mean, I don't _have _to…"

Rosalie snorted quietly. "Don't be so silly, of course you're sitting with us."

Bella looked a little confused, but sat down next to me anyway. Alice sat on Jasper's knee and pretty much ate his face off in front of everyone.

"Aw! None of that! I'm trying to eat here!" Emmett complained.

"Then shut the fuck up and eat." Jasper replied, tossing his half finished burger at Emmett and continuing to make out with Alice. The burger went wide, but Emmett somehow still managed to catch it finishing it in one bite and washing it down with a can of Coke.

"So what's on the agenda tonight?" Rosalie asked, leaning forward on the table.

"Shopping, I think." I grinned at the horrified expression on Emmett's face.

"I don't want to walk around a mall for the hours! My leg hurts!" Emmett complained.

"Oohh I've been needing a new pair of sandals for about a week now," Rosalie said, seeming oblivious to Emmett's aversion to tonight's plans. "The old ones were so last season's fashion."  
I shook my head in disbelief. Only Rosalie would wear _sandals_ in Forks.

Emmett groaned loudly, but Rosalie ignored him.

"Alice, where exactly did you want to go shopping?" Rose asked interrupting Alice and Jasper's make out session. They broke apart reluctantly and turned to scowl at us.

"What?" Alice grumbled.

"Where. Did. You. Want. To. Shop?"

"How about Port Angeles?" Alice chimed, her brief anger already evaporated. "I need a new handbag and that one at _Forever New_ is just so hot for summer."

"I know, it's gorgeous! They have it in so many colors and there's those pretty shoes that go with it!" Rosalie gushed.

"I don't really like the shoes, they are all yours. I really want to get those other ones at _Osmosis_ …"

"Ew! They're so gross. Green is so not on!"

I was barely aware of the bickering between my friends as I watched the beautiful brunette girl seated across from me.

She was staring down at her hands as she drummed them tunelessly against the table.

Every now and then she would shyly glance up at me before a bright pink blush would spread across her creamy cheeks.

I tried to catch her eye each time she glanced up at me but she was so shy I would only get to see a quick flash of chocolate brown. Then it was gone again, her pretty face hidden behind a curtain of brown hair.

I kept my eyes on her anyway, silently begging her to look up at me.

I knew I wasn't the only one who could feel the strange electrical charge between us. Bella had to feel it too, though I had no idea how she was able to ignore it.

I could feel the pull that was slowly drawing me closer, but I half-heartedly resisted. I'd never felt this compulsion to be with somebody before. It felt so strange to actual _want_ someone. It was a bit frightening too, like my body was overpowering my mind.

I wanted to be sitting next to Bella, instead of across from her. I wanted to feel the heat from her rosy red blush, and her hand wrapped around mine.

I needed those plump pink lips pressed against mine, that warm tongue inside my mouth... Those long fingers running through my hair and those perfect white teeth nipping at my neck...

"Fuck," I murmured at the growing tightness in my pants. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and I heard Emmett snicker beside me.

He leaned in and whispered into my ear. "What's the fucking boner for? Been having sexy dreams about that Mallory slut again?"

I growled and shoved him away, by-passing red and turning maroon as he howled with laughter.

"Ooh yes, baby! Right there, oh fuck, yes!" he cried out shamelessly.

Nearly the whole cafeteria was staring and his booming laugh was attracting kids from outside.

"Will you fucking shut up?" I hissed at him. "Do you want the whole school to know?"

"That was my plan," He grinned evilly and I swore under my breath again.

"I swear to fucking God, Emmett. One day I am going to murder you in your sleep."

"Ooh I'm shaking with fear!" He said sarcastically.

I looked away and my eyes landed on Bella. She was looking up at me again, her dark eyes wide and her mouth half open.

Had she heard what Emmett had said? "Fuck." I muttered.

Thankfully the bell rang then, and I jumped up to avoid those dark eyes.

I was so tempted to just leave the cafeteria to avoid the weird looks I was getting from everyone, but there was no way I was going to Biology today.

I'd already had to endure half a class of remedial science.

I nearly laughed when I remembered my science class last year. We were using Bunsen Burners and I'd stupidly held a lit match over an open gas tap, setting fire to my teacher and earning myself a week of after school detentions and remedial science classes.

As Emmett left the cafeteria with Rose he nudged me in the ribs and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

I scowled at him until he left the room with his arm around Rosalie's waist.

The bell rang for a second time, signaling the start of class. Bella leapt up from the table and glanced around the room.

"Oh shit, we're gonna be late!" She cried out. When I didn't answer her she frowned. "You're not coming?"

I couldn't look at her so instead I focused on a spot above her head when I answered her. "I told you this morning, I hate science."

"So you're not going?" She asked, sounding as if it were impossible to hate such a subject.

I shook my head and sat back down. I picked up a discarded bottle cap and spun it between my finger tips.

I could feel her eyes on me, but I didn't look up. I couldn't bear to look into those eyes again.

"But you'll get in trouble!" She complained after a while.

I shrugged, still not meeting her eyes. She made an impatient noise.

"What are you going to do, then? If you just sit here they'll catch you."

I shrugged again. "I'll just go for a drive or something."

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Bella frown at me.

"Would you like to stay with me?" I offered, hoping she would say yes.

She didn't answer me at first and I couldn't not look at her anymore. I tore my eyes away from the spinning cap and stared into those beautiful eyes.

I gasped when I saw the emotions there; not one of them was the accusation and anger that I expected.

Instead I saw indecision, as if she was torn between the two choices I had offered her and I leaned forward excitedly.

I wanted to ask her to stay with me, I wanted to get down on my knees and beg, but all I could do was stare back at her.

Then suddenly all indecision evaporated from her eyes and they were filled with happiness and want and... _lust_.

My dick twitched and I stifled the moan that had risen from deep inside my chest. Bella's chest was heaving and her tongue snaked out to lick her lips and I wished she'd do that to _my_ lips.

"Bella..." I whispered, half rising from my seat but then something snapped inside her and she jumped back, the lust gone from her eyes to be replaced with confusion and _horror_.

Oh fuck, what had I done?

She shook her head quickly and stepped back a few more steps.

"I don't want to get into trouble on my first day." And with that she turned on her heel leaving me alone in the cafeteria with the stupid bottle cap.

I swore and flicked the bottle cap. It spun across the table and bounced on the floor, coming to a stop under a nearby table.

Horror, I'd definitely seen horror in her chocolate eyes.

She was horrified with me, but, what had I done?

It had _looked_ like she liked me... wanted me. She looked all hot and flustered even though I hadn't really done anything, but I tended to have that affect on most girls.

My heart crashed in defeat when I realized that for the first time in my life I had been rejected by a girl.

Not just any girl, though. It was Bella, the one girl I had to really _try_ to get, and even then I'd failed.

My heart lifted a little at the possibility that she'd just not wanted to get into trouble. Maybe she really cared about that sort of thing.

_Or that could be an excuse. _A small voice whispered in the back of my head.

"Why the _fuck_ do girls have to be so complicated?" I cried out.

When no one answered me I stood up and aimed a kick at the table to relieve some of my stress before heading outside.

Go for a drive indeed. Where the fuck was I supposed to go during school hours?

I didn't even have a car!

I just wondered aimlessly around the school grounds, thinking about how much I wanted Bella and fantasizing about the two of us together.

We were alone on my couch and she was straddling my lap, her little arms wrapped around my shoulders, her lips brushing against my neck. She bit down gently and brought her lips up to mine, her breath hot against my skin and her warm, wet tongue sliding over my teeth...

Wow and now I needed to stop fantasizing because I was sporting a huge hard on and it was getting embarrassingly larger by the second. What if somebody walked past?

This was definitely NOT something I wanted to share with the student body of Forks high school, well with one small exception. Well fuck my luck... I suddenly heard voices coming from the other end of the hall and ducked behind the wall; not wanting to get caught.

The Footsteps got louder and I could almost make out the conversation between two people.

"Are you alright? Maybe I should carry you or something…"

"No, Mike. Please, let me just sit here for a minute. Clear my head and all, okay?" That voice sounded so familiar…

"Are you sure? Do you want me to get someone to help lift you?"

"Please, Mike! Just leave me alone for two minutes!"

I definitely knew that voice. "Bella!" I yelled out as I hurried out from behind the wall and ran towards the two people down the other end of the hall. One of them was lying down on her side with her face pressed against the cold stone floor.

I heard her groan and I ran faster. What was happening? What had that retarded fuck, Mike Newton, done to her?

"Edward?" Mike asked when I reached him. "I thought you went home sick!"

"Move out of the way!" I growled, bending down to look at Bella.

"Bella?" I whispered in her ear. The only response I got was another groan.

"Dude, she wants to be left alone!" Mike stuck his fuck-ugly face between me and Bella and I fought the urge to punch him. It wouldn't look good if someone found me with two half unconscious kids, one of them with a broken nose.

I pushed his face away and pressed my hand against Bella's face. I didn't have the faintest fucking clue on how to do a medical examination; you'd think having a top-grade doctor as a father would give me some experience.

Bella murmured something and I bent down lower to hear her.

"What's wrong, Bella? Are you hurt?" I asked her frantically. If that fuck head Newton laid a single finger on her…

"Go away…Please…" She groaned, but as she rolled away from me she grabbed my hand with her own. My heart went into spastic fits as I realized I was holding her hand, something I'd been wanting all day.

I snorted with laughter, she was so stubborn.

"I told you, man. She wants to be left alone!" Mike complained.

"Will you go the fuck away?" I yelled, causing him to flinch.

"Hey dude, just giving you the facts." He mumbled.

"Mike, why don't you go back to biology?" Bella whispered. I groaned quietly. She sounded so faint.

"No," He said stubbornly. "Mr. Melina told me to take care of you!"

"Piss off, Newton." I growled, and he backed away, looking scared.

"Wait, Mike!" Bella called out to him.

"What the fuck are you doing? I just got him to leave!" I hissed.

"Just shut up a second, would you?" She hissed back startling me, but then she smiled apologetically and I was melting like butter in her hands.

"Bella?" Mike asked uncertainly, still eyeing me.

"Mike, could you tell Mr. Melina I went home sick?" Her voice was so hoarse I wondered if she was putting it on. Maybe she'd had second thoughts about ditching.

"Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow." And the loser actually waved us goodbye before walking back to biology alone.

Bella laughed, annoyed. "He can't take a hint."

"He such a fucking loser." I muttered under my breath, but my little comment didn't go unheard. Bella rolled back over, probably to give me a lecture on swearing or name calling, but I was much closer than she expected and she rolled right onto my lap.

"Oh!" she huffed and she sat up, looking shocked and embarrassed. I grinned evilly at her and scooped her up into my arms.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She cried out, but it was too late because I was already walking off to the nurse's office.

"Let go off me! Put me down right now!" But even as she spoke her arms tightened around me and she tucked her head into the crook of my neck.

I could feel her warm breath against my neck and I laughed happily, trying not to think about my earlier fantasy.

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**A/n: Who do you fantasize about? **

**xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**_ So so so so SO sorry about how late this is. Like, you have no idea how sorry. My Beta had this edited and ready for me weeks ago. But it's finally here:D_

_Thank you for your support and reviews. You've all been so great. Thanks for reading and enjoy the latest chapter:)_

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_PS. Some of you might need to go back and read the last chapter; yes, it really has been that long. For those who just need a little reminder, Bella's in the nurse's office with Edward after the 'biology incident'. xoxo_

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**CHAPTER SIX- BELLA'S POV**

I'd been sitting in the nurse's office for over an hour with a cold compress pressed to my throbbing forehead and having to listen to Edward sniggering to himself in the corner.

He'd found it incredibly funny that I'd feinted at the sight of blood and he hadn't stopped teasing me since we were left alone.

"It wasn't even your own blood!" He'd said.

I'd told him to shut-up.

Still I was glad he was there. I couldn't seem to keep my eyes away from him.

The nurse bustled in again and I reluctantly tore my eyes away from him and focused on the floor. I opened my mouth to ask if I could leave, but she'd already grabbed a stack of forms and left.

A soft buzz filled the room and Edward rummaged through his pockets, captivating my interest again. He pulled out a phone and read the message with his eyebrows knit together. After a minute he gave a short burst of laughter as if someone had told a good joke and began to type his response.

I couldn't help the stupid smile from forming on my face, as I watched Edward's large hands working over the tiny buttons. He seemed to be fighting a smile himself. He pocketed the phone and turned back to face me, the smile sliding off his face to be replaced with a frown.

"You're staring at me. Why are you staring at me?" He turned to look over his shoulder in case I was staring at something behind him.

I quickly rearranged my features and raised both eyebrows at him. "Sorry?"

"You were staring at me. You're _still_ staring at me." He quirked an eyebrow at my poor acting.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking about, uh, something."

Edward snorted in disbelief, his green eyes searching mine for the truth. "How are you feeling?"

I lay back down and closed my eyes. "Tired. I want to go home."

"Don't we all?" he muttered.

"So ditch with me." I suggested. I grimaced at the false confidence that flowed from my lips.

"I'm grounded you know." He reminded me. "My old man would be mad. And besides, I thought you didn't want to get into trouble on your first day?"

I looked down at my hands as I spoke. "I thought maybe you could keep me out of trouble." _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _I instantly regretted my choice of words. _What the hell is wrong with you, Bella?_

When Edward didn't say anything I dared to glance up. My cheeks flamed when I saw his expression. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see, but it definitely wasn't amusement.

The corner of his mouth twitched again and I ducked my head in embarrassment.

Neither of us said another word for the rest of the time I was stuck in the office. I thought that I'd upset him somehow, maybe said the wrong thing, but then he probably would have left, right?

I was relieved that the beautiful boy was still seated beside me at the end of my two hour visit to the nurse's office. Edward seemed more than happy to leave the confines of the pokey room, and I nearly feinted again as he stood up and stretched, showing a thin strip of his lower back and the waistband of his boxers.

We were at the locker bays before he finally broke the silence. "You hungry?" He twiddled with the small dial on his locker door.

Now that he mentioned it, I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. "My lunch is in my bag, and I left it back in the science room."

"That's right. You don't have a locker yet, do you?"

I shook my head. "Maybe I should go get it…" I suddenly felt incredibly stupid for leaving all my stuff in class.

"Naw, there's another class in there now. We'll get it later. Here-" He threw something small and orange at me. A packet of crisps.

"Thanks." I split the packet open and munched on them hungrily.

"No problem. Thirsty?" He held up a can of beer.

"How do you get away with that?" I gestured at the can.

He shrugged. "I don't tell my parents."

I laughed and took the can off him. "I meant at school. How do you get it past security?"

I remembered the tight security at Phoenix High, and the punishments if you were caught. Not that I was ever involved in that stuff.

"We don't have fancy security here. No guards, metal detectors, or drug-sniffing dogs."

"You don't get much crime in the tiny town of Forks." He added.

"Would that be why my dad is the only policeman?" I joked. There were more cops living down my street in Phoenix than there were in this entire town.

"Probably." He laughed and slammed his locker door shut. "So what do you wanna do?"

"I thought you were grounded?"

"I am." he smiled lopsidedly. "But that doesn't mean I can't ditch!"    "But before you said-"

"I said Carlisle would be mad. I didn't say that I cared." He gave me one of those blindingly white smiles again.

I stumbled back from the glare and rubbed at my sore eyes. "Why don't you give me a tour?" I suggested.

"That's boring." He complained. "Let's do something fun!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Define _fun_."

He grinned evilly and loped off down the hall.

"Hurry up!" He called out without even turning around, voice full of mischief.

I stared mutely back at him as he kept walking. After he realized I wasn't following he half turned and caught me staring open mouthed at his back.

"Was all this just an excuse to stare at my ass?" He was grinning arrogantly, his already swollen head growing to the point where I wondered why it hadn't already burst.

"Are you kidding? You don't even have an ass." I laughed as his pride deflated a little.

"I do so have an ass," he frowned, turning to look down at his butt. "Well, maybe not in _these_ jeans..."

I laughed and jogged up the hall ahead of him. "You can show me your ass tomorrow, let's go have some fun!"

***

It was the end of the school day by the time Edward and I quit having fun and found the others.

At first I'd been doubtful about what we were going to do; he looked like the kind of boy who'd think 'fun' meant to set fire to someone's lawn.

Instead we'd driven down to the local music store in my beat up Chevy and checked out the latest CDs.

When Edward showed me his favorite band I'd laughed; Metallica was so old school. But when he saw my favorite bands he said he'd never even heard of them, and laughed when I insisted that All Time Low were very popular back home.

"So what have you two been up to?" Jasper greeted us in the car park. "You weren't around at lunch."

"Bella felt sick in biology so I took her to the nurse's office." Edward turned to wink at me. I smiled back, glad that he'd left out the part about me nearly chucking up and feinting.

"I heard about that." Jasper shook his head unbelievably. "Who feints at the sight of blood?"

I groaned. The whole school probably knew about it by now.

"Wait a minute!" Alice exclaimed, her hazel eyes wide and staring at me.

"I don't understand why people even say that. It's not like I was going anywhere," Jasper said to no one in particular.

"You!" Alice's gaze was so fierce, I actual took a step back, bumping into Edward's arm.

"Alice?" Edward looked as startled as I felt.

"I went up to the nurse's office just ten minutes ago to see if the rumors were true." She turned her icy glare on Edward, releasing me from those prying eyes.

"Rumors?" Edward stuttered.

"Yes, rumors. About the Cullen boy 'messing around' with the new girl."

"No!" Edward looked shocked. "Alice, how could you think that? I promised!"

Alice looked confused. "But you weren't in the sickbay…And everyone was saying…"

"Saying what? What's happening?" I looked wildly from Alice to Edward to Jasper and back again.

Jasper cleared his throat then; a subtle reminder. Alice and Edward shook their heads at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked Edward.

"Nothing, I just- nothing." He didn't look at me as he spoke.

I looked at Jasper for help, but he wouldn't look at me either. What the hell was going on?

I tried again, but he cut me off before I could get a word out. "What plans have we got tonight?"

"Shopping, shopping, shopping!" Alice chirped.

I shot Edward the same horrified expression Emmett and Jasper had worn at lunch. It was both a plea and a warning.

Edward saw my expression and tripped over his words as he hurried to get them out. "I don't think Bella's really up for shopping today. Especially after what happened..." His was smiling sympathetically, but his eyes were mocking me, so I stuck my tongue out at him.

Alice pouted, her lower lip jutting out. "But who will I go shopping with, then?"

"You have Rosalie, remember? Bella can hang with me until you get home." Edward said.

I nodded enthusiastically, wondering if Edward was making up an excuse to be alone with me again. I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach and my heart soared along with them at the thought of spending time alone with Edward. But then I remembered that Emmett and Jasper were going to be there and my heart fell again.

She nodded curtly, agreeing with Edward's idea and then very suddenly beamed at us.

"Whoa, what are you so happy about?" Edward was trying hard not to laugh.

"That new underwear store opened yesterday so now we can go lingerie shopping!" she squealed excitedly.

Edward covered his ears and winced theatrically and I just laughed at her sudden mood change.

Alice flashed us another brilliant smile and skipped off to go tell Rosalie the good news. I was still laughing when Emmett loped towards us.

"Christ, did she win the lottery or something?" Emmett asked.

"Nah, she's going _lingerie _shopping!" Edward grinned at Jasper tauntingly.

"But we were supposed to go out tonight!" Jasper looked upset.

Emmett laughed loudly. "She's doing it for you, man.

Jasper just made a face and flipped him off.

"So I take it you're not going with them?" Emmett asked me.

"No, I'm feeling a little sick." I replied.

"Actually," Edward grinned slyly, "She just doesn't like shopping."

"A girl that doesn't like shopping?" Jasper asked incredulously. "Fuck, will you marry me?"

"Of course, my darling Jasper!" Emmett cried out, jumping in front of me. "And we shall marry on a beach, on a far away island, on ponies, and I'll wear a dress with a fifty foot train made entirely of the finest and most expensive silk, and we will make love on a boat at midnight to the music-"

"You ass, I wouldn't marry you if I were gay and you were the last fag on the planet." Jasper said and I cracked up laughing. Edward was bent over, clutching my truck for support as Emmett pretended to cry.

"You loser, let's go." Jasper said, mock punching Emmett on the shoulder.

"Wait a minute, I don't have a car." Edward said.

"You're riding with us, Assward." Emmett said.

"No, I need to get some meds for my jaw... and my hand."

"What happened to your hand?" Jasper asked.

"I punched a door." Edward turned to wink at me.

"You dumb fuck! What'cha do that for?" Emmett asked.

"It was locked."

"So _un_lock it? There's this new invention, it's called a key."

"I didn't have a fucking key!"

"Naughty Eddie, don't you know not to swear in school?" a young voice drawled from the shadows.

We all turned in surprise at the sight of three massive boys each carrying several bottles of beer. The largest of the three, who also happened to be the youngest judging by his almost childish features, was the one who had spoken. Despite the cold weather none of them wore shirts or shoes, just a pair of scrappy cut-off shorts. They were all rather good looking and well built, and each of them seemed gleefully conscious of the fact.

"Jacob!" Emmett snarled at the young boy.

The boy, Jacob, just laughed. "Where's your girlfriend, Emmy-bear?" He taunted. "Looks like she's not here to save your massive arse again, is she?"

Emmett swore and made a move to hit him, but thankfully both Jasper and Edward grabbed a hold of him and held him back.

"Piss off, Black." Jasper growled.

"Would you look who it is, boys?" Jacob drawled. "It's Jazzy, the child molester. Are you still with that stupid pixie bitch or have you found another ten year old to fuck?"

Now it was up to poor Edward to hold both his friends back. "Fuck you!" he spat. I could see he was considering letting Jasper and Emmett go. He looked pretty pissed about the Alice remark.

I wished I could do something. I wished I could be strong enough to do anything that would help. But I knew that I would cause more trouble than help, and Jacob was easily twice my size in both height and sheer mass.

I pictured the two of them fighting; Edward all bruised and bloodied up while beefy Jacob stayed unharmed and still smiling tauntingly.

I whimpered at the horrible picture in my head and everyone turned to look at me curiously.

"Well what do we have here?" Jacob took a huge step towards me and I stumbled backwards in surprise, nearly landing flat on my back. One of Jacob's cronies sniggered, but I didn't dare look away from the terrifying boy before me.

"Leave her alone," Edward spat. But Jacob just laughed and took another step closer. He was now close enough to reach out and touch me.

"We didn't actually think we'd live to see this, did we boys?" Jacob jeered.

Edward struggled to hold back his two best friends while Jacob's friends continued to taunt them.

"Check it out Quil, Embry. Little Eddie-Dinkins has got himself a girl!"

"Leave her alone! Don't fucking touch her!" Edward cried out, but he could do nothing else without letting go of Jasper and Emmett.

"Protective, aren't we?" Jacob leered. "But I have to say you scored high, Eddie. She's pretty hot."

He reached out towards me and I flinched away from his hand, stumbling back a few more steps.

"You mongrel!" Edward screamed. Jacob let his hand drop and turned to face Edward.

"What did you call me, you filthy piece of shit?"

"I said you're a mongrel; a dog; a mutt!" Edward roared.

"Shut up." Jacob snapped.

Edward ignored him. "Didn't your mummy tell you not to hurt girls, you _pussy_?" He stumbled forward unwillingly against the strain of Emmett and Jasper.

"I'm sorry?" Jacob sneered.

"Apology accepted, moron. You know as well as I do that the only shit around here is you and your stupid drugged-up cult."

"You fucking bastard!" Jacob roared, and he dropped the bottles of beer with an ear-splitting shatter.

Quil and Embry were suddenly on either side of Jacob and one of them massaged their knuckles threateningly. Jacob looked positively furious and I could see the thick blue-ish vein pulsing on the side of his neck.

"You wanna go me?" Jacob grinned tauntingly and flexed his biceps.

_No, no, no. _I thought. _God, no, Edward. Don't do anything stupid… _

"Fuck you. I don't want any more trouble." Edward said as he slid forward a few more unintentional inches.

Jacob was watching Jasper and Emmett struggling with Edward. "It looks like they do."

Edward just shook his head.

"Aw c'mon!" Jacob drawled. "You weren't so shy the other day. I saw Paul, ya know. He wanted me to give you a message."

"Yeah?" Edward panted.

"He said his nuts are still sore, and if you don't watch yourself- well," He turned to smile at me. "We're in the presence of a young woman, and his next line was rather inappropriate." He lumbered casually up to Edward with both hands up, palms forward.

Edward didn't look happy. "Back off!" He snarled.

Jacob's smiled. "Just delivering a message." He leaned in towards Edward's ear and whispered something quietly.

I strained my ears, not sure if I really did want to hear it, when suddenly Edward roared and let go of Emmett and Jasper. With a sound like an explosion the three of them leapt on top of Jacob and attacked him.

Jacob was ready for them. He threw Jasper off easily and had Emmett around the throat while one of Jacob's friends stalked over to Jasper and kicked him hard. Jasper curled into a ball in an attempt to protect himself and I saw that his nose was broken; blood poured freely down his dirt covered face. He was clutching one arm oddly and I could already see the purple splotches that were the beginnings of bruises.

The huge boy kicked Jasper again, this time on the top of the head and Jasper lay still. Satisfied, the boy and his friend lumbered over to help Jacob who had succeeded in throwing both Emmett and Edward off him and onto the asphalt.

"No!" I cried out uselessly. No one spared a glance for me; they were all too busy ripping each other to shreds. I knew I should call for help, maybe Alice or Rosalie were still around. Or even one of the teachers. Heck, I even had a mobile phone, I could call my dad. But I couldn't remember how. Everything was becoming a blur, and all I could do was stay frozen on the spot while bawling my eyes out.

I wanted to at least close my eyes so I didn't have to see the gruesome picture of blood and bruises, but I couldn't even do that.

I watched on in horror as Emmett was thrown against a huge white jeep. He gasped on impact and I could see his pain written clearly across his face (don't need this- it is repetitive and takes from the action going on). With a roar he leapt up and tackled down another boy. They both fell to the floor and rolled around painfully. When Emmett finally got up I could see he'd knocked the boy unconscious.

Jacob saw it too. "Quil!" He cried out, but he couldn't move to help because suddenly Edward was there, blocking his path.

I fought back a scream at the sight of him. His shirt was torn in several places and soaked with blood in others. Purple bruises were already visible along his cheek and jaw line and one eye was swollen shut. He smiled tauntingly and blood trickled slowly out of his split lip.

"Move!" Jacob roared, as spit flew from his mouth .

Edward laughed and licked his bleeding lip. "Let's do this. "Emmett's my second," Edward glanced at the unconscious Quil. "I assume Embry's yours?"

Jacob looked amused. "What happened to be being a good little boy?"

Edward shook his head, his smile faltering. "They- I- it doesn't matter!"

"Well," Jacob smiled. "I guess we should 'do this', but I have one request."

Edward raised an eyebrow but otherwise did not reply.

"Leave _them_ out of it," Jacob nodded at Emmett and Embry who were still fighting. "This is between us."

_NO!_ I screamed in my head. _This is so stupid, someone help, please! _

I felt a wave of dizziness and I struggled to stay vertical. Edward and Jacob's voices began to slur together until I couldn't even pick out individual words anymore.

_Please, help…somebody…help… _

As if someone had heard my desperate pleas, a huge red shape shot past me. By this point I was beyond recognizing objects and was just proud of myself for recognizing the color.

I heard a yell, and a tiny voice screaming. Someone was crying too. I tried to listen, but it was painful.

It was like I was at one end of a dark tunnel; I could see the tiny pin prick of light and just barely hear the people on the other side. The voices were echoing, bouncing around in my skull and it hurt to listen.

And then everything went dark, like someone had bricked up the tunnel exit. Suddenly I was lost in the blackness, and even the voices couldn't hurt me there.

* * *

Hope you liked it:) Don't forget; Review, Rate and Criticize:D Love you all xxx

PS. Did you know that more people die from falling coconuts than shark attacks???


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